Quelle: The Guardian

Camp clearance completed with just a handful of makeshift mosques and canteens remaining

Work to clear the last makeshift shelters from part of the main refugee camp in Calais has been completed.

French authorities have left just a few structures housing communal facilities, such as mosques or canteens, in the 7.5-hectare southern part of the camp.

Police had fired teargas to disperse protesters when the operation to raze the wooden and tarpaulin structures began on 29 February.

Several thousand people had lived in that part of the camp, known as the “Jungle”, as they waited to try to scramble on to lorries before boarding ferries or Channel tunnel trains to Britain.

The refugees believe they have a better chance of finding work in Britain, and some have family ties there.

Some have moved to more permanent accommodation in shipping containers nearby, while others have headed for camps further along the coast. Hundreds are still living in the northern part of the camp.

Representatives of the camp dwellers warned the French government it would be “unacceptable” to try to clear the northern sector as well.

The local authorities have stated several times that they want to limit the camp to 2,000 residents, but have stipulated that those who stay must move into the containers. The camp made of containers can hold up 1,500 people and 400 places are also available to women and children in another centre nearby.

Hundreds of shopkeepers and restaurant owners from Calais held a protest in Paris on 7 March to complain that they have suffered heavy losses as a result of the presence of migrants in the port.