France declares completion of "Calais Jungle" cleanup operation

French authorities announced on October 26 that the campaign to clear the notorious Calais makeshift refugee camp in the country had ended despite encountering some minor opposition.

Scenes of devastation at the infamous Calais refugee camp after a heavy-handed clean-up campaign by the French government. Photo: Reuters

“This is the end of this notorious camp. The clean-up operation is complete,” Fabienne Buccio, head of the Calais police force, told Reuters.

There have been several incidents of clashes with police in Calais but they have all been resolved peacefully.

A total of 5,596 adults and children had registered with authorities and been evacuated from Calais, the French Interior Ministry said in a statement later.

This figure includes 235 minors taken in by British authorities since the beginning of last week under the UK's Dublin and Dubs laws, which allow for the admission of unaccompanied and vulnerable children.

The rest will be distributed to 450 asylum reception centers across France.

There are still about 1,000 refugees remaining in Calais. These will continue to register with the French authorities and will soon be transferred elsewhere, Mr Buccio added.

Speaking to the press, Calais Mayor Natacha Bouchart stressed: "We need to be very careful and make sure that after the cleanup, this camp will not reappear again."

The “residents” of the “Calais Jungle” are immigrants and refugees from poor countries in the Middle East, Africa and some Asian countries. They gather at the port of Calais near the Channel Tunnel connecting England and France and hope to set foot on British soil and have a better future.

To do so, they often hid in trucks traveling from France to England but were always discovered. Meanwhile, the existence of the “Calais Jungle” made local people uneasy and uncomfortable with its slovenliness and complexity.

According to Tuoi Tre