Calais migrants try to enter Britain 18,000 times this year
CALAIS migrants tried to cross the Channel and enter Britain almost 18,000 times this year alone despite the Jungle camp being cleared.
Calais has seen the return of migrants
The former French president Francois Hollande demanded the shanty town be torn down in October last year - with around 8,000 migrants from countries including Eritrea, Sudan, Syria and Iraq being dispersed around France.
However within weeks of the demolition, many gradually returned to the site.
And now around 1,000 migrants are believed to be sleeping rough in the area a year on.
The former Calais jungle camp was cleared last year
Calais was set on fire as officials tried to clear the jungle camp
An estimated 600 people, mainly from sub-Saharan Africa and Afghanistan, have returned to Calais but a further 400, mostly from Iraqi Kurdistan, are sleeping in woods in Grande-Synthe - 25 miles to the east.
So far this year, the groups have made 17,867 attempts to get into the ferry port at Calais or into Eurotunnel’s site, according to French police.
But officials are unsure how many may have made it across the Channel to England - although migrants say the success rate is low.
Their new found presence in Calais has revived a crisis that many both in France and the UK thought had been solved.
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Migrants have made 17,867 attempts to get into the ferry port at Calais or into Eurotunnel this year
But now French president Emmanuel Macron has been forced to change his tune on illegal immigrantion, ditching the tough talk as he offered shelter to all asylum seekers in France.
Two new migrant centres have now opened in Calais, each about an hour’s drive from the town.
French judges this week ordered officials in Calais to provide running water for refugees according to humanitarian law.
Around 1,000 migrants are believed to be sleeping rough in Calais
New Calais migrant centres have been opened
The State Council, France’s highest administrative court, demanded showers and toilets be installed around the woods that were home to some migrants.
Gerard Collomb, the interior minister, claimed he would do so but Natacha Bouchart, the town’s mayor, refused.
She said the local council would rather pay a fine of euros 100 a day than encourage migrants to settle in the town.
Ms Bouchart said: “I cannot accept installations that would lead to camps and shanty towns.”