First Group of Calais Camp Underage Refugees Arrive to UK Under Deal With France

The first group of minors from the refugee camp near the French city of Calais arrived on Monday to the United Kingdom to reunite with their families under an agreement with France.

LONDON (Sputnik) — Fourteen children arrived to the London district of Croydon, where they are to be registered with the Interior Ministry department. After that, the children will be reunited with their relatives.

A week ago, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve called on London to reunite children from the Calais camp with their families in the United Kingdom. Britain's Home Secretary Amber Rudd said that the children could be transferred from France shortly if Paris provided all necessary information about them. Rudd estimated that some 100 children would be transferred from Calais to Britain.

Since 2015, Calais has been the home to a large migrant camp – the so-called Jungle – notorious for its horrible living conditions. Thousands of migrants from the Middle East and North Africa are living in the Jungle, located not far from the Channel Tunnel, in hopes of reaching the United Kingdom.

The remaining part of the camp is to be closed before the end of October, after the main section was dismantled in March.