UPDATES NUMBER OF REMOVED MIGRANTS, EDITS THROUGHOUT
CALAIS, France (AA) - More than 4,000 people were removed from Calais’ Jungle camp by late Tuesday, an official said.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media, said at least 4,014 people had been transferred to refugee centers during the day.
Around 2,318 migrants left the camp Monday, according to Le Figaro newspaper, citing Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve.
Asylum seekers in the camp were hoping to cross the English Channel and reach the U.K. but the British government said it was funding a new four-meter-high barrier that it hoped would stop them from trying.
Construction began last month on the concrete wall that will extend for a kilometer alongside the motorway to the Calais port where ferries carrying trucks depart day and night for the U.K.
President Francois Hollande had pledged to demolish the camp, which had been home to thousands of migrants, before the end of 2016.