Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-02-22.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of France about their plans for the refugee camp at Calais, known as The Jungle; in particular (1) whether the site will be forcibly reduced to 500 women and children in the Jules Ferry Centre, and 1500 others in container units; (2) what facilities for cooking and education there will be for the latter; and (3) what is to happen to current residents who are not willing to move to the semi-permanent units or to go to centres d’accueil.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The management of the migrant camp in Calais is the responsibility of the French government. The French authorities plan to reduce the size of the Calais camp and improve humanitarian conditions, and are encouraging migrants to move into the heated containers or to one of the reflection centres (centres d’accueil) across France. We do not have details of how many people will remain at the site nor further information of the facilities in the camp. We have however cooperated closely with the French in their efforts to improve conditions in Calais by: providing support and facilities elsewhere in the country; carrying out joint visits to the camps to inform migrants about their rights and responsibilities; putting in place a joint programme to identify the most vulnerable migrants and moving them to a place of safety; increasing the number of places in the French asylum system and encouraging those in Calais to claim asylum. Migration issues were discussed at the UK-France Summit on 3 March. The summit communiqué provides details of the further cooperation agreed.
