The number of migrants sleeping rough on the streets of Paris has risen by at least one-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.
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.
Join GhanaStar.com to receive daily email alerts of breaking news in Ghana. GhanaStar.com is your source for all Ghana News. Get the latest Ghana news, breaking news, sports, politics, entertainment and more about Ghana, Africa and beyond.