HUNDREDS of unaccompanied children have not been processed as diggers begin the destruction of the Jungle camp, a charity claims.
Save the Children last night warned young people who had not been processed had “nowhere safe to stay” and must be moved to a secure area as the situation in the makeshift settlement becomes “increasingly volatile and tense”.
More than 2,800 adults have been moved from the Calais site since Monday and sent to specialist centres across France.
It was home to around 7,000 people from several different countries, with more than 1,000 youngsters understood to be living there.
Workers with sledgehammers began demolishing shacks and dismantling tents yesterday and accompanied minors are now the only residents allowed to remain in Calais, relocated by French authorities to a fenced-off camp created from shipping containers.
Last night Save the Children said 800 had moved in, but many were left out after the registration centre closed at lunchtime. Dorothy Sang, a Save the Children aid worker in the camp, said: “Refugees and unaccompanied children have been queuing in a calm and orderly way so far, but there’s a huge amount of confusion and lack of information. In the last hour the situation has become increasingly tense.
“There is a massive police presence here and diggers appear to be moving into the camp now, so it’s potentially very frightening for the children who don’t have a place to stay yet.”
The charity has also raised concerns about the children who have been taken to the container camp, which child protection charities have not been able to access.
It says the vulnerable residents will lose access to the services that have supported them as the main camp is demolished.
Kevin Watkins, head of Save the Children, said: “The French authorities’ demolition of the Calais jungle is being rushed through without due care being taken to protect extremely vulnerable children. This is a dereliction of responsibility which is exposing children to acute risks.
“When a part of the camp was demolished earlier this year, 129 children went missing. We don’t know what happened to them. There is every chance that this could happen again but on a bigger scale. We are urging the authorities to halt the demolition until they have registered and are protecting the more than a 1,000 children in the camp.
“We are really pleased to see a significant number of unaccompanied children from Calais being given a safe haven in the UK, but are deeply concerned for the fate of hundreds of children who remain.”
According to the Calais police commissioner, the camp will be completely cleared by Friday. Those removed by immigration officials can either claim asylum or face deportation.
More than 20 buses were used to transport them away yesterday and Christian Salome, of the charity Auberge des Migrants, said those to leave so far had wanted to do so, but tensions may rise later when the attentions turn to those determined to reach the UK.
He said: “I’m much more concerned about later in the week when the only ones remaining are those who do not want to leave, who still want to reach England.”
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