Calais ‘Jungle’ camp must be dismantled: France’s Hollande

Calais (France) (AFP) – French President Francois Hollande said on a visit to the port of Calais Monday that the sprawling “Jungle” migrant camp there would be “completely dismantled”.

Hollande, on his first visit to Calais as president, also called on Britain to “play its part” in resolving the migrant crisis. Most of the migrants in the camp, many of them from Sudan and Afghanistan, want to go to Britain and try to stow away on lorries heading across the Channel.

“I am determined to see British authorities play their part in the humanitarian effort that France is undertaking here,” Hollande said, flanked by security forces.

The president will meet police, port officials and local politicians but is not expected to visit the camp itself.

The “Jungle” holds between 7,000 and 10,000 people, according to various estimates.

Calais authorities are building a wall funded by Britain to prevent migrants from smuggling onto lorries heading to the port.