French President vows to dismantle "the Jungle"

(Vatican Radio) The French President hasyvowed to have the migrant camp in Calais fully dismantled by the end of the year.

His promise came in a speech on Monday to police forces securing the area and it addresses a major issue for his Socialist government ahead of next year's presidential election. 

Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni:

Visiting Calais for the first time since winning office in 2012, Francois Holland described the migrant camp – known as “the Jungle” – as a humanitarian emergency.

Some 10,000 people live in squalid conditions in the infamous camp near the port of Calais. They are all desperate migrants – men, women and children - hoping to make the channel crossing into Britain.

In his speech to security forces in Calais, the President  vowed to shut the camp "with method and determination" so that new camps don't appear near Calais or elsewhere across France, and said police forces will remain in the area "as long as needed" after the camp is shut.
 
“We must guarantee a durable and effective sealing of the French-British border," Holland  said, insisting that British authorities must also do their part. 

Although France is a member of Europe's passport free-travel zone while Britain is not. Hollande strongly urged the UK to "play its part" in the humanitarian effort.

And commenting on the fact that  the UK had made a "sovereign decision" to  leave the European Union – Hollande said it was not "absolved from its obligations to France".

Meanwhile, plans were announced in the summer to disperse Calais migrants to centers across France, where they will be able to apply for asylum. The reception centers will hold 40 to50 people for up to four months while authorities study their cases. Migrants who don't seek or qualify for asylum will be deported.

What is clear is that the fate of the camp and of the people living there has become central to France's presidential campaign.