Clashes as French authorities pull down homes in Calais 'Jungle' camp

Police fire teargas at migrants who threw stones, and shelters set on fire, after authorities dismantle dozens of makeshift shacks in refugee camp

Workmen start to dismantle a section of the camp. Photograph: Pascal Rossignol/Reuters

 An anti-riot policeman throws a tear gas grenade during the dismantling of the camp Photograph: Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty Images

French authorities continue to dismantle the ‘Jungle’ camp in Calais – video

Angelique Chrisafis in Paris and Peter Walker-Monday 29 February 2016

Clashes have broken out in Calais between migrants and riot police after authorities began to dismantle parts of the sprawling refugee camp known as the Jungle.

A British refugee aid group said it believed the homes of up to 200 people of the approximately 3,500 living in the camp had been demolished so far, and that a number of other makeshift shelters were burning.

Some homes appeared to have been set alight by the heat of teargas canisters fired at crowds by riot police, said a spokeswoman for the British volunteer group Help Refugees, while some residents seem to have set others on fire in protest.

“Police are still periodically firing teargas to keep back the crowds,” she said. “We can see six homes on fire now.”

Video footage from a volunteer inside the camp showed residents running away from clouds of teargas. Reuters said police fired teargas at about 150 migrants and activists who threw stones, and at least three shelters were on fire.

The work began calmly in the early morning, with orange-vested work crews painstakingly dismantling several dozen makeshift wood-and-tarpaulin shacks by hand before two diggers loaded the debris into large trucks. Police in riot gear shielded the work, and initially there were no reports of unrest beyond a report of one British activist being arrested.

Watch: shelters set on fire as refugees and police clash. Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images

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