Refugees Set Up Tent Cities in Paris, French President Angry

Thousands of refugees are sleeping in makeshift camps in central Paris as they were violently evicted earlier this week from the refugee camp, pejoratively referred to in France as “the jungle,” in the port city of Calais. 

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Local authorities calculate that about 3,000 people have arrived seeking shelter on the streets of two districts in the north of Paris near the Stalingrad metro station, which is very close from the high-speed railway Eurostar hub at Gare du Nord.

French President Francois Hollande wants them cleared.

"We cannot tolerate camps," Hollande said, calling them "not worthy" of France.

Some of the Parisian boulevards are filled with tents and makeshift shelters that officials said have noticeably jumped in numbers since the start of the week, “when the jungle,”was cleared. 

“We have seen a big increase since the start of the week. Last night, our teams counted 40 to 50 new tents there in two days,” Colombe Brossel, Paris deputy mayor in charge of security issues, told Reuters.

Authorities scheduled to close the infamous camp in Calais on Monday with the French government promising to secure places to resettle the camp’s residents around the country, so demolition workers on Tuesday started tearing down the slum, where some 6,000 to 8,000 refugees, including 1,200 children, were living. 

The eviction led to violent clashes between riot police and immigrants who defended themselves with stones and other projectiles. 

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The so-called “jungle” has became a symbol of Europe’s struggle to respond to its biggest migrant crisis since World War II, as people flee conflict-ridden zones in Africa and the Middle East.

To add to this, the crisis shows no sign of abating as 2016 has become the deadliest year on record for refugees attempting to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe, the United Nations has said. Last year, more than 1 million people reached Europe via the Mediterranean, but crossings so far this year remain below 330,000.