France resolved to dismantle Jungle camp: Interior min.

PARIS

French authorities are “determined” to totally dismantle the “Jungle” refugee camp in the city of Calais, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has said.

Cazeneuve visited Calais Friday in a bid to calm rising tensions in the port city, where locals, truckers, and farmers protested this week demanding a complete shutdown of the camp, home to thousands of refugees and migrants trying to enter the U.K.

Cazeneuve met with local officials, business representatives, and police.

He expressed commitment to a "total dismantling" of the north zone of the camp "in one step," the mayor of Calais, Natacha Bouchart, told reporters after meeting with Cazeneuve.

"The minister is committed to the total dismantling of the scope of the northern area in one step,” but no date has been given, she said.

French authorities already cleared the southern part of the camp in March.

Speaking ahead of Friday’s visit, Cazeneuve told regional daily Nord Littoral that he would press ahead with the closure "with the greatest determination," dismantling the site in stages while creating accommodation for thousands elsewhere in France "to unblock Calais".

According to Cazeneuve, some 6,900 asylum seekers are still living in the camp – confirming the numbers presented by the prefecture of Pas-de-Calais earlier in August.

However, local humanitarian aid groups L’Auberge des Migrants and Help Refugees last month also reported the camp housed over 9,100 people.