French capital to host stranded refugees in camps
French officials have announced plans to open two new refugee camps in the capital Paris to accommodate those stranded on the streets.
The mayor of Paris said on Tuesday that the camps will house close to 1,000 refugees in a bid to tackle the growing number of men, women and children who are sleeping on the streets.
Anne Hidalgo said the first site would start accepting refugees in mid-October, adding that one of the facilities would be dedicated to vulnerable women and children and the other will house men.
“We have to come up with new ways of overcoming the situation. Things are saturated,” Hidalgo said during a news conference.
She said the cost of building the two camps in Paris would amount to 6.5 million euros, 80 percent of which would be covered by the Paris municipal authorities, noting that the camps reflect French “values.”
The announcement comes despite growing reports about the miserable condition of refugees in France, especially those living in a swollen shanty town dubbed the "jungle" near the port of Calais, where the government has launched a renewed crackdown. Officials joined local residents on Monday in a rally to urge the dismantlement of the camp as people blamed the refugees for an increase in crime and the ailing local economy.
The protesters, who included truck drivers, farmers and Calais business owners, blocked traffic on the motorway approach to Calais demanding a deadline for the dismantling of the "jungle."
Pro-refugee activists in Europe say France has not been very welcoming the way Germany has been toward refugees fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and North Africa. Most of those entering the country aim to cross into Britain.
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