Evicting migrants: Calais's never-ending operation
French port city struggles to shake reputation as waypoint for those seeking asylum in Britain
French authorities may hope the ongoing evictions of the Calais refugee camp known as the "jungle" will be a permanent solution, but history has shown the area in northern France to be a magnet for migrants.
- CBC IN CALAIS | France starts to evict people from Calais refugee camp
- Crews start dismantling French camp while migrants remain
- CBC IN CALAIS | Uncertainty reigns as Calais refugee camp closure looms
Overlooking the Strait of Dover, Calais is a short ferry crossing or 35-minute underwater tunnel trip to England. That's agonizingly close for the countless migrants who have tried and failed to make the crossing illegally while dreaming of greater opportunity in Britain.
"It's not the first time we have this situation. Five, 10, 20 years ago it was the same," said Christian Salomé, president of the local charity L'Auberge des migrants. "Each time, people [come] back."
Past episodes
He's seen many temporary settlements torn down, only to reappear.
"It's not pleasant to see everything destroyed, even if it is a nightmare," Salomé said Monday in the "jungle" as migrants hauled away their belongings in a backpack or two. "We meet these people for months, for years for some, and it's friends who are going away."
A well-known previous attempt at evictions: the closure of the refugee camp in nearby Sangatte in 2002, after the French and British governments each agreed to resettle asylum seekers.
First opened by the Red Cross in 1999, the Sangatte camp swelled to hold 2,000 migrants at its height — much smaller than Calais's jungle. Both locations, though, highlight the same challenge for authorities: welcoming outsiders fleeing war or hardship while appeasing locals who have grown increasingly irritated.
Locals 'skeptical'
Calais business owners say their sales have dropped 20 to 40 per cent since the latest camp sprung up last year. Truck drivers' patience is growing thin, fed up with having to deal with migrants who try to hop on and catch a ride across the English Channel.
"We're relieved today to see the camp will be demolished but we obviously remain skeptical regarding the weeks to come," said Calais Mayor Natacha Bouchart.
Bouchart spoke to CBC News as she toured the site down the road where hundreds of young men had lined up on Monday, waiting to register to claim asylum in France.
Bouchart said she worries about residents who will refuse to leave the squalid shanty town and for hardline activists ready to cause trouble. She blames campaigners known as the "No Borders" network, who support absolute freedom of movement, for encouraging migrants to stand up to authority.
"We also fear that squatters' camps will reappear in the city and we have one big question: how to prevent migrants from returning to Calais," she said.
Police checking documents
A month ago, on his first trip to the port city as president, François Hollande vowed to close the camp for good. He acknowledged the crisis had lasted for "too long," and that the people of Calais have faced a "particularly difficult" public safety situation.
On Monday night, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve repeated the government's intent to carry out what he called "its humanitarian duty."
"Law enforcement officers will remain as long as needed to secure the border and prevent the construction of camps in Calais or along the shoreline," Cazeneuve said from the ornate interior ministry building in Place Beauvau, Paris.
Police would check documents at transport hubs, he explained, without specifying that those found to be contravening immigration laws would surely be deported.
The mayor, from the right-leaning Républicains party, criticizes France's Socialist government for a lack of long-term planning.
"They tell us tomorrow there will be no migrants in Calais, [but] you'll understand that for us, it's a little hard to comprehend," she said.
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