Paris – French authorities began dismantling part of a migrant camp near Calais on Monday, after an expulsion order issued by the local administration was upheld by a judge last week.
Workers in the bright construction vests and helmets took down tarps and sheets of material that had been cobbled together to create shelters by migrants hoping to reach British shores, just across the English Channel from the northern French city.
After attempts to dismantle the camp were marred on Friday by what authorities called extremist activists.
The workers returned on Monday accompanied by security forces, local official Etienne Desplanques said.
A judge in the city of Lille last week upheld an expulsion order for the southern section of the camp.[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
He said that the arguments presented by humanitarian groups decrying limited housing alternatives were outweighed by efforts made by local authorities and the state to provide sufficient accommodation.
The judge excluded sites of public use that had been constructed in the camps, including churches and mosques, centres for legal assistance and health posts.
Authorities responsible for the Pas-de-Calais region said that between 800 and 1,000 people live in the southern section of the camp. Humanitarian groups put the number at more than 3,000.
A 1,500-person-capacity accommodation centre was built nearby, but local authorities and the Interior Ministry have encouraged migrants to apply for asylum in France and move to other parts of the country with more centres for accommodation.(dpa/NAN)
