France vows to close Calais migrant camp

The French Immigration Minister Eric Besson pledged today to remove a camp where illegal migrants gather near the port of Calais to try crossing to Britain, a move local residents and businesses will welcome.

The "jungle", as the makeshift tent city is known locally, sprang up after France closed a large Red Cross centre at nearby Sangatte in 2002, under pressure from Britain which saw it as a magnet for clandestine migrants.

"The jungle will no longer exist," Besson told local business leaders during a visit to Calais.

"To maintain and develop the jungle would be an obstacle to economic interests and employment," he said.

Besson was due to make a speech later outlining specific measures. His visit to Calais comes two days after police and bulldozers swooped on the camp, arresting about 200 migrants and removing their tents made of plastic sheeting and bits of wood.

The raid angered human rights activists who said it made no sense to clear out the "jungle" as migrants would simply relocate elsewhere in the area, as they did after Sangatte was closed. France and Britain should be looking for more sustainable solutions, they said.

Hundreds of migrants, mostly from Afghanistan, Iraq and Eritrea, have arrived at the camp in recent months because of a perception that it has become easier to cross to Britain.

Dozens of migrants, some marshalled by traffickers equipped with walkie-talkies, converge on car parks every night to try and secretly get into trucks about to board ferries to Britain.

Most of them speak some English, have relatives in Britain or simply believe they will find work there. They do not wish to stay in France.

French authorities say police are doing their utmost to prevent illegal crossings, although in private they complain that they are not receiving enough support from Britain despite acting in British interests.

As well as straining relations with London, the Calais "jungle" has become an embarrassment for the French government, with media reports showing dire sanitary conditions, volunteers complaining of police harassment and residents fed up.

The camp is located in a wooded area on the outskirts of Calais, next to an industrial zone. Business leaders with factories there complained of trespassing by migrants in search of water, food or just a plug to recharge their mobile phones.

They said some workers had been attacked by migrants.

"We have recorded 1,500 incidents over 10 years. We have daily problems. We have had people injured and some who came close to death," Dominique Vanneste, director of the Tioxide Europe chemicals factory which employs 200 people, told Besson.

Christian Vasseur, director of a local trucking station, told the minister he was discouraged by the situation.

"We're always hearing about illegal migrants' rights, but not about their duties. Today this problem is really affecting local businesses," he said.

Rights activists say migrants are more often victims of repression than trouble-makers. They describe brutal police raids against them and say the government's policy of systematically deporting illegal migrants is inhumane.