Migrants Face Court in France for Boarding Cross-Channel Ferry
Migrant protesters were due in a French court Monday after occupying a cross-Channel ferry, as charities warned thousands could be affected by plans to evict half of Calais' "Jungle" refugee camp.
A court in Boulogne-sur-Mer was to deliver a verdict in the case of two activists and six migrants who took part in last month's protest in the northern port city of Calais, urging Britain to allow asylum seekers in.
Towards the end of the protest, some 150 people broke through a barrier around the port and about a third managed to board the "Spirit of Britain" ferry. Several hours later, police removed them, arresting 24 migrants and 11 members of the No Borders activist group.
The case comes a day before a deadline of 1900 GMT Tuesday set by local authorities for people in the southern half of the Jungle camp to leave.
The local government says the demolition will affect between 800 and 1,000 residents of the grim camp, which stands on a former toxic waste dump on the outskirts of Calais.
It estimates there are currently some 3,700 people living there, all of whom are hoping to sneak aboard lorries heading for Britain.
But according to charities working in the camp, who say they have done a census, there are around 3,450 people living in the southern part -- including 300 unaccompanied children.
The demolition "risks displacing migrants to other camps in the region, which is only moving the problem somewhere else," said Vincent De Coninck, a volunteer with Caritas.
Conditions in other camps along the northern French coast are even more dire than those in the Jungle.
Several charities are challenging the eviction order, and a judge is due to visit the Jungle on Tuesday before giving a verdict later in the day.
Local government head Fabienne Buccio said Sunday that "everything will be done" to avoid the use of force in clearing the southern half of the camp.
"The dismantling should start on Wednesday and security forces will not be used if everyone plays their part," Buccio said.
In an earlier statement, the Calais town hall claimed it was acting in response to "abuses" committed by migrants that had led to "an aggravated level of tension" in recent weeks.
It said camp residents were throwing stones and other projectiles at lorries and security forces on a daily basis, but also condemned members of far-right groups who loiter outside the Jungle to beat up migrants.
The French authorities have been gradually trying to shut down the Jungle, encouraging residents to head for proper centers elsewhere in France.
However, many of the residents have family or community ties to Britain and are reluctant to give up their dream of crossing the Channel.
A campaign spearheaded by celebrities such as actors Jude Law and Benedict Cumberbatch has called on the British government to let children from the camp be reunited with families in Britain and take responsibility for the "humanitarian crisis" in the Jungle.
Law was among a group of celebrities who gave a one-off literary performance on Sunday in the makeshift theater in the Jungle to draw attention to their cause.
Those being pushed out of the camp can go to one of around 100 accommodation centers elsewhere in France, or into refitted shipping containers set up nearby.
The containers have not proved popular with migrants, who say they lack communal spaces and restrict their movements, while local charities say they fail to meet international standards.
Source: Agence France Presse
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