A makeshift camp in Calais known as The Jungle, which is home to hundreds of migrants trying to reach Britain, is to be cleared out by French police.

Eric Besson, the French Immigration Minister, said the camp, where Afghans, Iraqis, Iranians and other nationalities sleep in homemade tents, would be dismantled by the end of the year. French charities said that he was merely displacing the migrants, who would remain in the Calais region while trying to find a way across the Channel.

The row follows a 100 per cent increase in the number of migrants caught at Calais port this year, many of whom risk their lives in the attempt to get to Britain. More than 1,000 were detected in refrigerated lorries between January and March.

France is blaming the British Government for the upsurge, with Mr Besson calling for tighter border controls and a crackdown on undeclared jobs in the UK. The minister announced the closure of The Jungle, set up on dunes and woodlands near an industrial estate on the outskirts of Calais, after hearing local business leaders say that they could be forced to shut factories in the vicinity.

Dominique Vanneste, the director of Tioxide, a chemical plant, said: “The migrants have changed attitude in the last few months. They’ve become a lot more aggressive.” He said staff were “attacked and there are serious incidents such as the use of iron bars”.

Mr Besson said: “We will not let the situation get any worse and you will not be obliged to close your companies. The law of the jungle will no longer rule here.”

Natacha Bouchart, the Mayor of Calais, welcomed the tough stance, but added: “It is going to be difficult to put into place.” The minister has ordered police to break up the camp by repeating the operation that led to the arrest of 194 people in The Jungle and other smaller camps in the region this week.

Prosecutors said they had been hoping to catch the people-traffickers who charge up to €700 (£625) to put migrants into the trailers of lorries bound for cross-channel ferries.

All 194 suspects were released without charge, in a move that critics said highlighted the difficulties of stopping migration to Britain.

Charles Frammezelle, a member of C’Sur, a charity that provides meals and clothing for the migrants, said the closure of The Jungle was like hitting water with a sword. “What’s the point of kicking them out of here to put them somewhere else a few kilometres away? Within a few days they will be back.”

An Afghan man who has slept under plastic sheeting in the camp for six weeks said: “If they stop us staying here we’re just going to go to the town centre and that’s going to create even more problems for everyone.” An estimated 500 migrants live in The Jungle and a further 300 or so have found shelter in disused buildings in Calais, according to officials. At least 1,000 have set up makeshift camps elsewhere along the coast.

The French Government wants London to introduce tighter controls at British ports.

The Home Office said the build-up of migrants in Calais showed that UK border controls were effective. It said 399 British immigration staff were posted in Calais, with 319 elsewhere in France.

Crowded and dangerous

— The Jungle was set up after the closure of the Sangatte Red Cross shelter in 2002. It was to house 900 refugees, but reached 2,000

— A Canadian journalism student was raped while visiting the camp to prepare a report in August

— Last month French authorities gave permission for new facilities to be built near Sangatte

Source: Times Archive

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