Tent cities rise in Paris after ‘Jungle’ evacuation

The number of migrants sleeping rough on the streets of Paris has risen by at least  a third since the start of the week when the “Jungle” shanty town in Calais was evacuated.

Along the bustling boulevards and a canal in a northeastern corner of Paris, hundreds of tents have been pitched by asylum seekers – mostly Africans who say they are from Sudan – with cardboard on the ground to try and insulate them from the cold.

While their presence is not new, it has grown substantially this week, said Colombe Brossel, Paris deputy mayor in charge of security issues.

“We have seen a big increase since the start of the week. Last night our teams counted 40 to 50 new tents there in two days,” Brossel said, adding there was now a total of 700 to 750.

This means there are some 2,000-2,500 people sleeping rough in Paris, up from about 1,500 a few days before, she said.

“It’s not a huge explosion in numbers, but there is a clear increase,” she said. “Some of them come from Calais, others from other places.”

After years as serving as an illegal base camp for refugees and migrants trying to get to Britain, the Jungle was finally bulldozed this week and the more than 6,000 residents of the ramshackle camp near the English channel were relocated to shelters around France.

France’s asylum chief Pascal Brice said the arrivals in Paris did not mean there had been a wholesale movement from the Jungle to the capital.

“There might be some movements at the margins [toward Paris] but what is crucial is that those 6,000 people have been protected,” he said.

READ MORE: Makeshift camps grow after Calais ‘jungle’ exit

Between the Stalingrad and Jaures Paris metro stations, migrants who spent the night camped out on the median strip of a major road, with traffic passing on either side, had scattered on Friday morning, many carrying their tents while police patrolled the centre of the boulevard.

“There’s a lot of new people here,” said Mustafa, 21, from Darfur, as he waited on the side of the road.

Ali, also from Sudan, said: “I see more people than before. People came yesterday and before yesterday from Calais.”

Authorities said the newcomers did not come only from Calais. Others did but had arrived before the dismantlement of the camp, they said.

Ama, a 24-year-old Sudanese who is six-months pregnant, said she had come to Paris from Calais, but that was months ago.

“I was in Calais before but I did not find the route [to Britain],” she said. “I couldn’t stay over there being pregnant, it was too hard.”

READ MORE: Underage refugees in Calais running out of options

Deputy Mayor Brossel said it was up to the central government, not city authorities, to act.

“These people must be sheltered,” she said.

The city of Paris has plans to open two reception centres but they would only have a total capacity of fewer than 1,000 beds.

France and the UK have been feuding over who should take responsibility for the 1,500 minors who were living in Calais. 

French President Francois Hollande said on Saturday that he had spoken with British Prime Minister Theresa May to convey the message that Britain should take its share of responsibility for minors from the Jungle camp.

Meanwhile, British Home Secretary Amber Rudd told her French counterpart, Bernard Cazeneuve, that his government must guarantee the protection of youngsters left in limbo after the evacuation.