Thread: Calais bulldozers burned and containers graffitied ahead of 'Jungle' clearing

Many refugees and migrants refuse to move into a new container camp while some fear it will mean that they will be forced to apply for asylum in France

Two bulldozers due to be used to clear migrants' makeshift dwellings from the squalid "Jungle" camp in Calais were burnt over the weekend, amid widespread refusal by the refugees to move into a new container camp.

he vehicles parked on the edge of the camp were completely destroyed by the blaze that occurred overnight on Friday, and several of the first containers put in place last week were scrawled with slogans such as "F--- Cameron" and "F--- government," police said.

No one has been arrested for the arson attack that came before the bulldozers were due to be sent in to clear dwellings from part of the camp near the motorway leading to the ferry port where migrants hope they will be able to sneak onto a truck and cross the Channel to Britain.

French authorities have said they plan to destroy the tents or makeshift huts of an estimated 1,600 people, roughly a third of up to 5,000 migrants who are using the camp as a base while they attempt to cross the reach the UK.

The French government wants those evicted to move into converted shipping containers that have been equipped with heating, electricity and a hi-tech entry code system.

But many migrants are reluctant to leave the tents, cafés and shops they have set up in the Jungle, and are suspicious about the new camp, which is surrounded by barbed wire and requires a fingerprint scan to come and go.

The new camp being built in the northern French port will consist of 125 containers with beds for 12 people. Officials said that by Friday, 173 people had moved in.

Some migrants living in the part of the Jungle earmarked for clearance last week began carrying their makeshift shacks out of the bulldozers' target zone, one by one, as ice-cold wind and rain lashed the camp.

Two charities – Auberge des Migrants and Acted – are helping move the homes, either on flatbed trailers pulled by vans, or simply lifting them by hand.

The migrants are also concerned that if they move into the new facility, they will be forced to apply for asylum in France, according to volunteer aid workers. The French government has denied that migrants, who are mostly from warzones such as Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq or are fleeing persecution and poverty in African countries such as Sudan and Eritrea, will be compelled to do so.

But officials have been trying to persuade residents of the camps to go to centres elsewhere in the country and apply for asylum.

Many migrants are drawn by family connections and language to Britain, while the migrants often view France as unwelcoming and with limited economic opportunities.

Calais bulldozers burned and containers graffitied ahead of 'Jungle' clearing

The French want to bulldoze the 'Jungle' on Monday, and the Calais migrants 'are scared because they don't know what is going to happen'

Earlier this week, French authorities announced they would destroy part of the refugee camp in Calais known as the "Jungle." The asylum seekers living there have until Monday to gather their belongings and leave the area.

The part of the camp the government seeks to destroy is close to the motorway. The authorities want to clear that area and level it to make it easier to prevent asylum seekers from trying to climb into trucks and buses every time a traffic jam occurs on that stretch of the road.

Clare Moseley, founder of the volunteer organisation Care4Calais, which helps people in the Jungle, estimates that the area the police seek to clear represents about 20% of the camp. The area consists mostly of homes, as opposed to other parts of the camp where small businesses and communal areas such as libraries have developed.

French authorities will destroy part of the Jungle camp in Calais

Hundreds of migrants asked to leave Calais 'Jungle'

Demolition of The Jungle finally begins: Bulldozers move in to tear down Calais' notorious tent city despite protests from migrants

French authorities bringing in bulldozers to clear a third of the notorious Jungle camp in Calais

Refugees and migrants living in the camp have spent the past week clearing up their belongings

Desperate migrants were seen trying to carry their wood shacks to safety and loading them on to waiting trucks

Rumours swirled bulldozers were going to turn up in middle of the night and demolish the makeshift camp

Many were initially hesitant to leave the camp and say they are worried how they will be treated when they leave

French authorities have finally begun the demolition of the notorious Jungle camp in Calais, where several thousand migrants and refugees live.

Riot police entered the camp early on Monday morning, to assist in the clearing up of a part of the camp where French authorities are set to bulldoze a 330ft 'buffer zone' between the camp and the adjacent motorway, which leads to the ferry port.

Last week, the local government in Calais announced that a third of the camp, an area home to some 1,500 of the camp's 6,000 residents, was to be destroyed, and those living in the area moved to purpose-built housing.

Read more: Demolition of The Jungle begins in Calais despite migrants' protests