France razes 'Jungle' camp as Greece buckles under refugee crisis
World
France razes 'Jungle' camp as Greece buckles under refugee crisis
Demolition workers tore down more makeshift shelters in France's grim "Jungle" refugee camp Tuesday, as Greece pleaded for EU aid to help shelter thousands of refugees stuck in misery at its border. In the northern French port city of Calais, tensions were high as officials for a second day razed part of the Jungle camp, which has become a magnet for people hoping to reach Britain. Some sat on the roof of their shacks, covered in blankets against the driving rain in a bid to stop their temporary homes from being pulled apart, but there was no repeat of the violence that erupted Monday.
Unfortunately, we cannot fight the police ... There is nothing for us to do. We will just be left in the cold winter.
Nureen, Sudanese refugee
The late winter freeze brought similar misery to Greece's border with Macedonia, the latest flashpoint in the refugee crisis, which many fear poses a threat to the very core of the European project. Athens made a plea Tuesday for nearly half a billion euros ($543.6 million) in emergency funds from the European Union to help shelter 100,000 refugees. More than 7,000 people have been stuck on the border after Balkan states imposed a daily limit on the number of migrants allowed to enter. The grim situation has seen increasing criticism of countries that have set caps on the number of refugees they are willing to let in, as many buckle under the strain of a flood of people fleeing poverty and war.
We cannot take in hundreds of thousands of people. We are not Germany's waiting room.
Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann
