Calais camp to be evicted after French court ruling

A French court on Thursday gave the green light to plans to demolish the notorious "Jungle" camp in Calais.

The court had been asked to stop the evacuation of the southern half of the "Jungle," with many of the migrants wanting to stay near the entrance to the Channel Tunnel, gateway to their ultimate goal of Britain.

Calais town authorities have pledged not to evict anyone from the camp by force, with an unnamed official saying they will seek to “persuade the migrants to leave so that they have a roof over their heads”.

But activists fear that an attempt to clear the camp will end in violence, with current residents keen to stay close to the port so they can try to reach the UK.

A host of British celebrities had joined a campaign to save the southern part of the camp, organising a petition to urge British Prime Minister David Cameron to press French authorities not to go ahead with the demolition.

More than 96,000 people, including about 150 public figures, have signed the letter. Actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Idris Elba were among the names on the petition.

The letter also called on the government to allow those children in the camp who have family in the UK to be reunited with them “with immediate effect”.

The campaign followed a landmark court ruling last month that found that the UK must give safe passage to four vulnerable Syrian nationals – three of them minors – who had been living in the camp but have family in the UK.

Lawyers had argued that conditions in Calais were "intolerable" and that their cases should be handled in Britain due to bureaucratic delays in the French asylum system.