Key dates in history of Calais ‘Jungle’

The notorious “Jungle” camp on the outskirts of the French port of Calais has for years been a staging post for migrants trying to sneak across the Channel to Britain on lorries or trains.
Following are key dates in the history of the settlement, which French authorities began to clear on Monday.
The Red Cross opens a camp at Sangatte, near Calais, for migrants sleeping rough.
The camp closes under pressure from Britain, which sees the facility as a lure for migrants trying to cross the Channel.
Hundreds of mainly Afghan migrants then set up camp east of Calais on a patch of scrubland next to a road used by lorries heading for the port. The migrants dub it the Jungle.
The Jungle is demolished for the first time on the orders of then president Nicolas Sarkozy, following a mass police raid in which scores of people are arrested.
– Early 2015: A settlement named the New Jungle sprouts up near a state-run day centre for migrants established at the site. The camp later becomes simply known as the Jungle.
– June 2015: The Jungle’s reputation for lawlessness grows as clashes between migrants and police become a regular occurrence. Twenty-one people are injured when a brawl breaks out between up to 300 migrants.
– November 2015: France’s top administrative court raps the government over conditions in the Jungle, describing them as “inhuman”.
– January: The port of Calais is shut for more than three hours after dozens of migrants occupy a moored Britain-bound ferry.
– February-March: Southern half of the Jungle camp is demolished. Evicted migrants move to the northern part of the camp, but pressure builds to tear down the remainder.
– September 26: President Francois Hollande announces the Jungle will be demolished by year’s end and its remaining migrants — estimated to number around 6,000 — will be moved to shelters around the country.
– October: Britain accelerates the transfer of child refugees seeking to be reunited with relatives, taking in around 200 minors. On October 24 thousands of migrants are bussed out and a day later work begins to demolish the shantytown.