Thousands of refugees wait at welcome centers following Calais demolition

World Today

Thousands of refugees wait at welcome centers following Calais demolition

Thousands of refugees were sent to welcome centers across France, as authorities destroyed the Calais camp last month.

CCTV’s Kate Parkinson went to one of the centers in eastern France to meet the new arrivals.

Vesoul in eastern France and It’s a long way from Calais. It’s even further from Afghanistan where most of its newest residents are originally from.

This is now home for the 33 migrants sent here after bulldozers destroyed the ‘Jungle’ camp.

Conditions here are considerably better than they were in the squalid camp. Each room here has its own bathroom; it’s warm and dry and the migrants have their own beds to sleep in. They’re pretty basic facilities but none of this was available to them in Calais.

Ali spent 10 months in the camp trying to reach the U.K. But now he says he wants to build a life in France and has applied for asylum here.

More than 5,000 adult migrants have been sent from Calais to centers like this across France.

In some places, the reaction has been openly hostile. There have been anti-migrant demonstrations and one welcome center was set on fire.

But officials said the response has been almost entirely positive. Asylum seekers are teamed up with players from a nearby university to help them integrate.

They don’t all speak the same language yet but putting the ball in the back of the net is a goal everyone understands.