French authorities clear 336 migrants from camp near Dunkirk

PARIS – Authorities have cleared 336 migrants from a makeshift camp outside Dunkirk and assigned them to reception centres in the region of northern France.

The closure came just weeks after some 400 migrants were transferred to centres from a local gymnasium, where they were temporarily sheltered after another camp was shut.

The town of Grande-Synthe, the site of the two evacuations, is a way-station for some migrants, many of them Iraqi Kurds. Human smugglers have been known to operate there, offering passage across the English Channel to Britain.

Interior Minister Gerard Collomb is cracking down on migrant encampments around France.

On May 30, about 1,000 migrants were removed from a camp in Paris’ far north. Nearly as many were removed from two other Paris camps five days later.