Calais

 French authorities evacuated hundreds of migrants from a wood on the northern coast near Calais on Tuesday over fears it could become a magnet for others hoping to head to Britain, The Local reported.

After banking on neglect, hostility and mistreatment to discourage a steady trickle of migrants, the new French government was ordered by France’s highest administrative body to do better this week and at least provide water and toilets to the people.

The French town of Calais was engulfed by violence on Sunday evening after the police clashed with migrants and used tear gas against the crowd before the largest evacuation of refugees in France in decades, reported The Times, cited by Focus agency.

A group of Iranian migrants sewed their mouths shut in a disturbing protest at the ongoing demolition of the "Jungle" migrant camp in the French port city of Calais on March 4.

AFP journalists said at least nine Iranians had stitched their mouths shut in the southern half of the camp, which is being gradually demolished by French authorities.

France warned Britain on March 3 that it would end border controls and let thousands of migrants move on to Britain if voters backed leaving the European Union. 

It also said it would open its arms to British-based banks wanting to flee an non-EU Britain and stay in the bloc. 

Thousands of refugees could flock to Britain from France if voters decide to leave the European Union, a spokesman for David Cameron said on Feb. 8, underlining the prime minister's stance that an exit would hurt security.

The number of refugees placed in Calais area has reached unprecedented levels, with about 6,000 living in terrible conditions in the French port and nearly two thousand more in rapidly expanding “jungles” in nearby towns, Telegraph reports.

The site is located 7 km from the city itself, on a former rubbish tip with no access to water or power.

Migrants desperate to reach England made at least 1,500 attempts to enter the Eurotunnel terminal overnight in the French port town of Calais, a police source told AFP July 29, adding that one man was found dead.

Three migrants trying to smuggle their way into the Channel Tunnel to reach Britain were burnt by an electric shock, one seriously, local French authorities said on July 14.

French public opinion has been left shocked by a Polish man's confession to raping and killing a nine-year-old girl that he snatched from a French playground. The mother was left distraught as her daughter was taken from under her nose on Wednesday when playing at the playground at the northern city of Calais.