CALAIS, France, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- French officials Tuesday disassembled a makeshift tent camp near Calais they said housed illegal immigrants fleeing their homelands for a better life in Europe.
French police had to disperse refugee rights protesters so they could reach the squalid camp, nicknamed "The Jungle," CNN reported.
The French government said it was targeting human smuggling and did not say where the migrants would be relocated. Police arrested 276 migrants, 125 of them minors, Calais prefecture official Catherine Mande said.
Many migrants along the coast of France, aided by smugglers, sneak into England by hiding in trucks crossing the English Channel, French officials said. France and Britain signed an agreement in July to crack down on illegal immigration, including dispersing the migrants at the tent encampment.
British Home Secretary Alan Johnson said the measures in place "are not only there to prevent illegal immigration but also to stop people trafficking."
Johnson said both nations were committed "to helping individuals who are genuine refugees," while returning those who don't need protection to their homelands.
The closure in Calais follows similar action elsewhere on the continent to crack down in illegal immigrants, The New York Times reported. On July 12, Greece eliminated a makeshift camp in Patras. In May, Italy struck an accord with Libya allowing Italian authorities to turn back migrants' boats in the Mediterranean Sea.
The European Union estimates 500,000 people enter Europe illegally each year.
