UN reminds France of duty to war refugees

FRANCE yesterday defended its decision to close a makeshift migrant camp known as “The Jungle” as the UN refugee body warned it had a duty towards people fleeing the world’s war zones.

Immigration Minister Eric Besson has announced that police will move in by the end of next week to clear out the zone near the Channel port of Calais, where hundreds of migrants gather to try to gain passage to Britain.

Officials say the camp has become a haven for people-smuggling gangs and a no-go zone for locals, with appalling sanitary conditions blamed for an outbreak of scabies in the past few months.