French President Francois Hollande on Saturday urged Britain to take in 1,500 unaccompanied minors from the “Jungle” as officials stepped up efforts to finish demolishing the almost-deserted Calais, France, refugee camp.
Hailing the evacuation of the sprawling encampment, Hollande vowed that France would not accept the emergence of any more makeshift camps, which have become a glaring symbol of Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II.
He pledged youngsters left at a container camp near the site would be dispersed around the country, with the hope that they would eventually be taken in by Britain.
“We had to rise to the challenge of the refugee issue. We could not tolerate the camp and we will not tolerate any others,” he said while visiting a reception center in Doue-la-Fontaine in western France.
“There are 1,500 unaccompanied minors left in Calais and they will be very quickly dispatched to other [reception] centers,” he added.
Hollande said he had spoken to British Prime Minister Theresa May to ensure that British officials would “accompany these minors to these centers and would play their part in subsequently welcoming them to the United Kingdom.”
Meanwhile in Calais, three huge diggers moved in to clear the debris of makeshift dwellings in the northern section of the camp which until Tuesday last week had been home to between 6,000 and 8,000 refugees.
Many tents and shacks had been ravaged as huge fires ripped through the camp on Wednesday last week. About a dozen riot police trucks were posted at the camp’s entrance, where skips were in place to take away piles of debris.
Officials hope to complete the clearance by tonight and on Saturday morning there was little sign of life except workmen and police.
In Paris, more than 100 left-wing lawmakers sent a letter to British Home Secretary Amber Rudd, calling on her government to “immediately” take in unaccompanied minors from the Jungle who want to rejoin relatives in the UK.
The letter, a copy of which was sent to the media by the French National Assembly Deputy President Sandrine Mazetier said 1,500 unaccompanied minors had been placed in safety in the provisional reception center — a container camp — in Calais.
“[They] are not seeking any favors: they have the right, in line with current international regulations and British law, to go to Britain,” the letter said. “Their transfer to Britain is urgent. We ask you to take your responsibilities and assume your moral duty by immediately organizing their arrival.”
Britain’s Help Refugees charity estimated that as of late Friday last week there remained more than 1,000 unaccompanied children living in the container camp.
Since the middle of this month, Britain has taken in 274 children from the Jungle, mostly youngsters with relatives already living in the country.
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