Judge considers last-minute reprieve for thousands of Calais 'Jungle' migrants facing eviction at 7pm GMT today

Judge considers last-minute reprieve for thousands of Calais 'Jungle' migrants who face having their homes bulldozed after eviction deadline at 7pm GMT today
Up to 3,400 refugees face having their homes demolished in shanty town
French court to rule this afternoon after migrant groups appealed eviction
A judge and other officials visited site today to see conditions themselves
Sudan migrant: 'I don't want to leave because I'll be further from England'
http://dollars-vedioonline.blogspot.com/2016/02/judge-considers-last-minute-reprieve.html


Thousands of migrants are facing eviction from their homes in France's Jungle camp today unless a judge grants them a last-minute reprieve.

Emotions were running high this morning as a deadline loomed for the destruction of half the 'Jungle' migrant camp in Calais.

Residents in the southern half of the grim shanty town have been given until 8pm local time (7pm GMT) today to quit their makeshift homes or face bulldozers being sent in tomorrow.

But many are refusing or unable to move.

Praying for good news: Refugee organisations are pinning their hopes on a court hearing due to take place in Lille this afternoon after challenging the eviction order
John, a 28-year-old Sudanese migrant, said: 'I don't have anywhere else to go.
'We don't want to leave Calais because we don't want to get further away from England, which is still our goal.'
Refugee organisations are pinning their hopes on a court hearing due to take place in Lille this afternoon after challenging the eviction order.


A French judge and other officials visited the camp earlier today to see conditions for themselves before making a ruling on whether the eviction should go ahead.
The issue has played into the fraught discussions about Britain's possible exit from the EU, with France under pressure to stop refugees trying to board lorries and ferries to cross the Channel.
Some British opponents of 'Brexit' say they would lose the ability to call on France to stop the flow of refugees if Britain leaves the EU.

Up to 1,000 people who have fled war, poverty and persecution are reported to be affected by the plans, but aid workers say the figure could be much higher.

The Help Refugees charity said it carried out its own analysis showing there were 3,455 people living in the affected part of the Jungle who faced being 'evicted from their homes in the midst of winter, without sufficient alternative accommodation on offer'.

A spokeswoman said: 'Our concerns remain with welfare of the unaccompanied minors.

'We have had no assurances from the French authorities that they will conduct assessments to determine best interests of these children and ensure proper safeguarding is in place before removing them from the camp and the communities they know and trust.

'We urge them to delay the demolition of the southern section of the camp until these needs are met... our concerns will be heard at the court in Lille.'

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the eviction would be done 'progressively, by persuasion and with respect for people's dignity'.

Some British opponents of 'Brexit' say they would lose the ability to call on France to stop the flow of refugees
The evicted migrants have been offered heated accommodation in refitted containers set up next door to the Jungle.
But many are reluctant to move there because they lack any communal spaces and movement is restricted.
They have also been offered places in around 100 accommodation centres spread around France.
At the weekend, actor Jude Law and singer Tom Odell were among famous faces who took to the stage at the camp in Calais to raise the plight of refugees.
They were joined by actress Juliet Stevenson and comedian Shappi Khorsandi at the Letters Live event.
It came after 145 celebrities including Idris Elba, Helena Bonham Carter and Benedict Cumberbatch wrote an open letter calling on Prime Minister David Cameron to help save children based there.
They want the Government to step in and allow unaccompanied children living in the camp to be reunited with their families in the UK.
Meanwhile, Eurotunnel has asked the British and French governments to reimburse it £22million (€29m) for lost revenue during the cross-Channel migrant crisis.
The Chunnel operator faced heavy disruption to its services last summer as migrants based at the Jungle made repeated bids to reach Britain.

Migrant crisis heats up again: 8,000 are left stranded in Greece after Macedonia blocks Afghans – as Germany lashes out at Austria for letting thousands across its border

Migrant crisis heats up again: 8,000 are left stranded in Greece after Macedonia blocks Afghans – as Germany lashes out at Austria for letting thousands across its border
Athens vows action against Macedonia after Skopje turns away Afghans
5,000 migrants stuck on the border and 3,000 stranded in Greek capital
Skopje, in turn, blamed Serbia for doing the same on its southern border
German Minister attacked Austria for only accepting 80 migrants a day
http://dollars-vedioonline.blogspot.com/2016/02/migrant-crisis-heats-up-again-8000-are.html


Tensions mounted over the migrant crisis again today after countries imposed their own border controls that created huge backlogs and further threatened to destroy the passport-free travel zone.
Athens today vowed to take action against Macedonia after Skopje refused to accept Afghans refugees, leaving more than 8,000 stranded in Greece.
Skopje, in turn, blamed Serbia for doing the same on its southern border with Macedonia.
Meanwhile, Germany lashed out at Austria's decision to accept just 80 asylum seekers a day – while letting thousands of others pass through.

Afghan children wait with their families at a refugee camp on the Greek-Macedonian border. Greece said it was taking action to persuade Macedonia to accept Afghan migrants after thousands were stranded at its border
There are fears the unilateral controls and daily caps could trigger a domino effect along the Balkan migrant trail and leave thousands stranded in Greece, the entry point into the EU for many.
Greece said today it was taking diplomatic action to persuade Macedonia to accept Afghan migrants after thousands were stranded at its border and main port.
'We have begun diplomatic moves... we believe the problem will be resolved,' junior interior minister for migration Yiannis Mouzalas told parliamentary television, without elaborating.
Some 5,000 refugees are stuck at the border with Macedonia after the neighbouring state on Sunday refused to allow passage to Afghans, police said.


Another 3,000 people were blocked in Athens after landing at the port of Piraeus from the Aegean islands, a government source said, adding that officials were scrambling to find room for them.
'We do not expect a (diplomatic) solution today,' the source said, adding: 'We will accommodate the Afghans while trying to prevent overcrowding at any of the facilities available.'
Macedonian authorities reportedly said that Serbia has done the same on its southern border with Macedonia.
Since November, countries on the Balkan route have allowed only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans to continue their journey northwards towards Germany, Sweden and other European nations where they plan to apply for asylum.
'We are making preparations so that even if the problem is not resolved, if there is a violation of European decisions by Serbia and Skopje, to be able to manage the problem that will be created in Greece,' Mouzalas said.

Domino effect: Moves by Austria and Macedonia are the latest unilateral actions taken by EU countries to stem the migrant flow as the bloc tries to cope with the continent's worst migrat crisis since World War Two
It came as German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere branded Austria's decision to allow just 80 migrants in each day 'unacceptable' and said it sends out 'the wrong signal' to the rest of Europe.
Berlin fears many of these migrants are heading straight for Germany, where tensions are on the rise after the country saw an influx of over a million asylum seekers last year, putting huge pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel's open-door policy.
'It won't work if some countries think they can solve the problem by putting extra weight on Germany's back,' de Maiziere told ARD public television, accusing Vienna of failing to carry out adequate checks on those being let through.
Despite strong objections from the European Union, Austria on Friday introduced a daily limit of 80 migrants who are allowed to claim asylum while allowing 3,200 migrants a day to transit through.
'Even for security reasons, this is unacceptable.
'We won't allow this to continue long term,' de Maiziere said, adding that he intended to bring up the issue at the next gathering of EU interior ministers in Brussels on Thursday.

Migrants walk along a road to cross the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni on Sunday
The asylum cap 'is an Austrian decision', he said. 'But to say that 3,200 can continue towards Germany is the wrong signal,' he added.
'The figure is much too high. We won't accept it and that's why we need to talk about this.'
Vienna said it would beef up the army at its borders to deal with the inflow of migrants, with 450 more troops from today and military police on standby in case of trouble.
The troops will assist police carrying out checks on people and vehicles entering the country, patrol the 'green border' and carry out surveillance work, the defence ministry said.
Meanwhile, Hungary has reported a sharp rise in the numbers of migrants breaching its southern borders in February, the first significant surge since the frontiers were sealed last year.
Around 1,500 migrants tried to enter the EU member state illegally from Serbia this month, with 500 alone caught between Friday and Sunday, police said in a statement.

Men sit near train tracks as migrants from Afghanistan wait for permission to cross from Macedonia to Serbia
Many were economic migrants from Morocco, Iran and Pakistan, police said. Unlike Syrians, they are unlikely to be granted asylum in Europe and face deportation.
About 300,000 refugees passed through Hungary last year, before right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban sealed off the southern borders with razor wire and fences in September and October.
The measures – together with tight border patrols and tough new laws punishing illegal entry and vandalism of the fences – slowed the flow to a trickle with only around a dozen people a day attempting to cross.
Since September, 1,325 people have been charged with crimes under the new legislation, the vast majority served with expulsion orders.
The move by EU countries to impose border controls further jeopardises Europe's Schengen passport-free travel zone.
Underscoring the urgency of the issue, Mr de Maiziere said member states must agree a common approach within two weeks if they wanted to prevent the system collapsing.
In addition to being a devastating symbolic setback for Europe, a collapse of Schengen would increase the amount of time it takes for goods to be transported across European borders, raising costs for companies and consumers.
A study by Germany's Bertelsmann Foundation revealed it could cost the EU up to €1.4trillion over the next decade.