French Min Collomb Meets With Calais Mayor, Hails Gains in Migration Situation

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb met with mayor of Calais Natacha Bouchart on Monday and welcomed the "great improvement" of the migration situation in the port city, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

"Gerard Collomb, the interior minister, has received Mayor of Calais Natacha Bouchart today. The minister 'welcomed the great improvement of the situation of migration in Calais'… According to Collomb, 'this improvement demonstrates that the resolute action taken by state agencies… in close partnership with local actors such as the Calais mayor's office, yielded results,'" the statement read.

According to the Interior Ministry, the number of migrants in Calais "has been divided by 20" compared to the fall of 2016, and the number of public order offenses committed by migrants has also been "in sharp decline."

Calais, which is situated near the French side of the Channel Tunnel connecting the country with the UK, has for years been home to hundreds of migrants attempting to cross the border.

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Calais hosted the infamous Jungle refugee camp which was home to more than 10,000 people before being razed in 2016. Even though the camp was dismantled, asylum seekers and refugees still arrive in the city.