French police clash with refugees in Calais 'jungle' ahead of camp's demolition

Refugees and police have clashed in the Calais 'jungle' camp ahead of plans to close the area at the beginning of next week.

French police launched tear gas and refugees threw bottles and stones on Saturday evening (22 October) as authorities prepared to move up to 10,000 people who call the camp home, distributing leaflets informing them they would be relocated on 23 October.

Around 50 refugees are believed to have been involved in the scuffle with police.

People who have been living in the makeshift camp, which has grown to house thousands of people over the past five years, are set to be moved to locations around France, although charities warned it was likely other camps could appear, the BBC reported.

Refugees have been given leaflets asking them to report to the authorities on Sunday morning (23 October), when they will be transported to centres around France.

However, there are concerns that some of the people who have been living in the jungle camp will refuse to be relocated, as they hope to find a home in the UK.

In addition, charities have warned the demolition of the camp will force vulnerable refugees into worse conditions, with a spokesperson for Doctors of the World UK telling IBTimes UK: " We have been through demolitions, and evacuation, and people ended up living in squalid squats and woodland, often without running water."

And French authorities have said they will move people by force if necessary, in order to carry out the demolition the makeshift homes people have built by the border.

Some of the unaccompanied children who had been living in the camp have already been accepted into the country under rules of the 'Dubs Amendment', along with 39 boys who have relatives in the UK.

There was a suggestion from Conservative MP David Davis that children being accepted into the country undergo 'dental testing' to verify they are under 18, although this suggestion was dismissed by the Home Office and criticised as 'unethical' by the British Dental Association.