French authorities yesterday began clearing the “Jungle” refugee camp, bussing out more than 1, 000 people by the afternoon as it readies to raze the patch of wasteland where thousands have made temporary homes.
An old hangar in the port city of Calais was converted into a processing center for between 6, 000 and 10, 000 migrants. Authorities offered them two choices-stay in France or go back to their country of origin.
The camp is a grim mosaic of squalid tents, makeshift shelters and tumbledown caravans at the side of a motorway that has become the wretched symbol of Europe’s refugee crisis.
Migrants have flocked to Europe by the millions, many from war-torn Syria and African nations. The majority at the Jungle comes from Afghanistan, Eritrea and Sudan.
Some migrants have refused to leave the camp, which sits KAGAMEat one end of the Eurotunnel -- a direct route to Britain that many have risked their lives trying to traverse, hiding in lorries. Some have even walked the 30 miles.
In 2015, the Eurotunnel operator intercepted 37, 000 migrants attempting to travel to the UK illegally.
Britain is a preferred destination for many migrants-its economy is doing better than most of its European counterparts, unemployment rates are low and a lot of migrants have at least a basic command of English.
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