Europe

Aid groups asks court to suspend Calais migrant camp closure

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Migrants play soccer in a makeshift migrants camp near Calais, France, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016. Charities working with refugees and migrants living in a slum-like camp in northern France objected Tuesday to the government's plan to dismantle the site and disperse the occupants, saying French authorities should not act in haste. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) (The Associated Press)

Migrants use their cell phone inside a makeshift migrants camp near Calais, France, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016. Charities working with refugees and migrants living in a slum-like camp in northern France objected Tuesday to the government's plan to dismantle the site and disperse the occupants, saying French authorities should not act in haste. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) (The Associated Press)

One Syrian and five Afghan boys wait at the custom checkpoint of the Calais train station, northern France, as they leave for Britain Thursday, Oct. 13, 2016. A group of underage migrants is leaving the French city of Calais for Britain, as both governments seek solutions for hundreds of unaccompanied children in Calais’ slum-like migrant camp before it is shut down in the coming weeks. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) (The Associated Press)

Aid groups have asked a court to delay government plans to close a wretched migrant camp in the French port of Calais, arguing that authorities aren't ready to relocate its thousands of residents.

Concern has been mounting particularly about hundreds of unaccompanied children in the so-called "jungle" camp in Calais, a troubling symbol of Europe's migrant crisis.

Thierry Kuhn of aid group Emmaus said Thursday that the groups filed an emergency request with a court in Lille seeking to delay the closure. A decision is expected within 48 hours.

The government is expected to close the camp in the coming weeks and relocate migrants to centers around France, but has not given a firm shutdown date. The camp has attracted migrants from the Mideast and Africa seeking to reach Britain.