Mayor of Calais has slammed a new shelter that was opened in Calais by France to provide food and shelter to migrants as they prepare to make the final push to reach Britain.
The shelter opened in a warehouse last night and provides refuge for up to 300 migrants.
However, Calais mayor Natacha Bouchart has strongly criticized the measure that aims to reduce the number homeless migrants in her city.
Pictured: A Group Of Migrants Wait At The New Calais Migrant Centre. The Shelter’s First Residents were Seen on November 4, 2021. The shelter, which opened in an old warehouse last night, provides refuge for 300 migrants who need somewhere to sleep and eat food before continuing their journey to the UK.
She warned it against becoming the “Jungle Mark II”, a reference to the notorious Jungle camp, which was home to as many as 10,000 migrants on wasteland near Calais. It was closed down in October 2016.
Last night, buses full of migrants arrived at the warehouse to avail of the new facility set up by French authorities.
Ten new residents were admitted to the shelter at a time, each one carrying their bare possessions.
An estimated 100 migrants queued up at the shelter this morning in an effort to get one the highly-coveted beds.
MailOnline was informed by a French police source: “The refuge for migrants opened last night.”
“All 300 beds were filled within an hour. There is already a long queue of people waiting for a place. They will be offered a place at other shelters in this area.
Last night, bus-loads (pictured) of migrants were seen entering the warehouse to take advantage the new facility that was opened by the French authorities.
The new centre aims to reduce the number of migrants who live on the streets or in makeshift tents around Calais, trying desperately to find a spot on a boat or on a lorry that crosses the Channel.
Mrs Bouchart – who describes the UK as ‘El Dorado’ for illegal immigrants – said the new centre would merely attract more migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East to her town and to attempt the dangerous crossing to Britain.
She stated that it was impossible for this shelter to be closed. It’s complete madness.
“The shelter will become a rallying place, a camp, or a Jungle. Initially, there will be 300 migrants. Then, 600, then 1,500.
“We do not want to have anything to do with this shelter, and we are not responsible. Calais Town Hall is completely opposed to this project.
MailOnline was told by a source that it was crazy. French migrants have created a refuge for them to rest and refuel after a long journey to reach the UK.
Pictured: Migrants wait at the shelter. The new centre aims to curb the increasing number of migrants who live on the streets or in makeshift tented camps in Calais.
Pictured: A graph showing the number and types of migrants who crossed the channel in small boats in 2019, 2020, and 2021.
French police are offering shelter to migrants detained in Calais by French police. They will provide a hot meal and a warm night’s sleep.
The plan is to have them ‘directed’ the following day to other migrant centre locations away from Calais so they can make a claim in France for asylum. Buses are used to transport those who accept France’s offer of asylum assessment. Today, however, the shelter’s state-provided transport was virtually empty.
Only a few migrants could be seen sitting at one bus’ back, which was in stark contrast to the crowded vehicles that arrived the previous night. Other residents could be seen walking into Calais from the centre.
After being detained by French police, migrants are now expelled from the Calais region.
However, few people will follow the eviction requirements and continue to seek a new life here.
Didier Leschi, France’s Immigration and Integration Minister, proposed the plan for the shelter.
Pictured: On Thursday evening, one of the buses is seen through the chain-link fence at the warehouse shelter.
French police in Calais have taken refuge for migrants who were detained.
“The next day, they will be directed toward reception centres located away from Calais.
It was revealed this week that 20,000 migrants had crossed the Channel this year, with the vast majority of them paying people smugglers to make their perilous journey on open boats.
Humanitarian groups estimated that about 2,000 people were living in or near the Calais area’s encampments during the summer.
Many of the hundreds who currently live in rough conditions in abandoned buildings, under bridges, or in woods and fields around Port are young men, but there are also many women and children.
Many people, who cannot afford to pay people to smugglers, try to climb onto lorries to get to Britain.
Natacha Bouchart, Calais mayor, has strongly criticised opening of the shelter that aims to reduce the number homeless migrants in her city. Pictured: On Thursday, people waited in line outside the shelter
Despite the fact that most attempts fail, enough people persevere to encourage those who are left behind in Calais.
After becoming a symbol for Europe’s migration crisis, the original Jungle camp was demolished on a 1.5-mile stretch of scrubland.
Since then, the French police have continued to demolish the shabby camps that have sprung up in this area.
Asylum seekers support groups complained that the authorities were preventing migrants from getting help by placing large rocks and boulders at regular distribution points. This was to stop aid vans from parking.
Also, Brexit is said to have slowed down the arrivals for clothing and other essential items, making the lives miserable of migrants encamped at Calais.
A government source claimed that at least one person drowned yesterday in stormy conditions on the French side.
After a dinghy sank off Dunkirk, one man was killed and another was declared dead.
Pictured: A line of migrants are seen lining up against a fence at the shelter on Thursday.
The tragedies – driven by people-trafficking gangs – came in the week it was confirmed 20,000 migrants had crossed the Channel since the start of the year. Last year, 8,410 migrants arrived.
Mayor Bouchart is a member conservative Republicans and has blamed Britain for the current crisis. She said: ‘We know that a migrant who arrives in England is taken care of. They have a place to live, and an income.
‘For them, England remains an El Dorado but the British Government does not have the courage to review its legislation in the field.’
Britain’s soft touch had created ‘a pull factor’ that has inflicted ‘trauma’ on Calais residents for more than 20 years, Miss Bouchart told radio station RTL.
She called on French president Emmanuel Macron to engage in ‘strong-arm tactics’ with Britain.
Priti Patel, Home Secretary, has authorized measures to turn around migrant boat boats but they have not yet been deployed.
Mr Macron’s government has insisted this would breach international maritime law, and France would refuse to accept vessels turned back in this way, it is understood.