Migrant crisis: French court rules Calais Jungle businesses cannot be closed down

A French court has rejected a request for informal businesses in the so-called "Jungle" in Calais to be closed down. The Pas-de-Calais Prefecture had applied had for the interim closure of 72 businesses such as restaurants and cafes which serve the nearly 9,000 thousands refugees at the site.

On Friday 12 August, the administrative court in Lille said that the judge considered that the "concerns expressed by the Pas-de-Calais prefect were understandable", but the conditions at the camp were not urgent enough, Nord Littoral reported.

The judge said: "These grocers, cafes and restaurants fulfill other functions [for migrants] who live in conditions of extreme precariousness and total inactivity".

Restaurants and shops in the jungle have faced increased crackdowns following a decision on 25 February to evict the southern part of the camp.

There have also been numerous police raids of establishments offering food for the camp as well as a decision to close restaurants on 18 July.

Migrant charities welcomed the ruling with Christophe Salamé of the Auberge des Migrants group, telling the Telegraph that if the places had been destroyed, it would have increased pressure on migrants to try and reach England.

He said: "The state's reasoning is that the worse the conditions in Calais for refugees, the more they will want to leave the town. But war refugees don't follow this logic as they prefer to remain in very difficult conditions to hope to join their families in England."

Xavier Bertrand, head of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie region has said that security concerns meant there should be a curfew stopping migrants from leaving the "jungle" at night.