President Francois Hollande said on Monday that France will completely shut down “the Jungle” migrant camp in Calais by year-end and called on London to help deal with the plight of thousands of people whose dream is ultimately to get to Britain.
“The situation is unacceptable and everyone here knows it,” Mr. Hollande said on a visit to the northern port city where as many as 10,000 migrants from war-torn countries such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan live in squalor. “We must dismantle the camp completely and definitively,” he said.
Relocation of migrants France plans to relocate the migrants in small groups around the country but Right-wing opponents of the Socialist leader are raising the heat ahead of the election in April, accusing him of mismanaging a problem that is ultimately a British one.
The migrants want to enter Britain, but the government in London argues that migrants seeking asylum need to do so under European Union (EU) law in the country where they enter.
Immigration was one of the main drivers of Britain’s vote this year to leave the EU. It is also likely to be major factor in France’s presidential election.
Mr. Hollande bluntly reminded Britain of that, saying that he expected London to fully honour agreements on managing a flow of migrants.
