Calais prepares its newest migrant camp… built from shipping containers: New centre will live alongside the Jungle camp and house 1,500 people from January

Construction work begins for the creation of new migrant container camp

The crates are being stacked next to the Jungle migrant camp in Calais

1,500 new migrants will be accommodated by the new container camp

Builders have started to install shipping containers next to the Jungle migrant camp in Calais in order to provide homes for a further 1,500 new residents next month.

The shipping container camp will sit alongside the Jungle and is expected to provide basic shelter and facilities for migrants.

A crane began to load the crates into a careful line on the campsite, providing much needed accommodation for the bustling squalid Jungle camp.

With the winter temperatures plummeting, many migrants have been left to struggle with only the most basic and temporary shelters.

It is hoped that the container crates will provide good cover against the bad weather and a solid structure for people to build their own home.

The new buildings came after Medical charities Medecins du Monde and Secours Catholique brought a lawsuit to demand improvements in conditions in the jungle earlier this year.

The arrangements for the new container camp were delayed due to problems with the terrain at the camp site. Now the containers are in place, it is expected the first migrants will move in next month.

Some 4,500 people fleeing war and poverty in Asia, the Middle East and Africa live in notoriously squalid conditions in a makeshift camp in Calais known as the 'Jungle'.

Most of them live in small tents with precious few possessions, braving cold weather conditions as they bide their time before trying to cross the Channel.

The news comes after some 800 to 1,000 migrants tried to break into the Channel Tunnel last Thursday in a desperate bid to reach Britain.

'We noted the presence of 800 to 1,000 migrants' near the tunnel, a local official told AFP, as a police source described the numbers as 'unprecedented' for daytime.

People normally try to cross over under cover of darkness, often having paid exorbitant sums to smugglers to make dangerous, even life-threatening bids to reach the other side of the Channel.

'As they approached the tunnel, several migrants tried hard to slow down the flow of traffic so they could climb into the trucks,' the source said.

An AFP journalist saw young men climb on top of trucks heading towards Britain, with some cutting through the tarpaulin covering the vehicles to get inside.

Others could be seen helping their friends climb into the back of a white truck.

Several people succeeded in their bid to enter the Channel Tunnel site, the journalist said.

'Security forces were deployed... objects were being thrown at them, and they had to resort to using tear gas,' police said in a statement.

Thursday's attempt came after several weeks when only a tiny number of people managed to get through.

Many of the refugees and migrants want to reach Britain because they speak English, or because they have relatives there.

Others simply believe their chances at a better life are higher in Britain.

Earlier this month a 16-year-old Sudanese boy was hit by a van on a motorway close to the Channel Tunnel, becoming the 18th person to die trying to reach Britain from Calais since June.

With security tight around the Calais Jungle, authorities in Belgium said this week that a growing number of migrants are seeking to leave for Britain from the port of Zeebrugge, located some 80 miles north of Calais.
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