(AP) At least 1,500 migrants are living in tents on a muddy lot in northern France as growing numbers of people fleeing Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries seek to traverse the English Channel and reach the U.K., according to aid workers.
In Grande-Synthe, a town east of the port city of Calais, the migrants — including some families with young children — have converged on the site of a former industrial complex. Local authorities have warned of dire sanitary conditions and overcrowding in the area, risks associated with the fast-approaching winter and deepening tensions between migrants and traffickers that often turn violent.
France’s interior minister and Britain’s home secretary were scheduled to speak Monday about the situation.
