Migrants jailed as 'Jungle' demolition looms

Six migrants were given a month in prison on Monday for occupying a ferry in northern France, while charities warned thousands could be affected by plans to evict half of the "Jungle" refugee camp in Calais.

The migrants from Afghanistan, Sudan and Syria were convicted alongside two activists, who received fines from the court in Boulogne-sur-Mer for their part in a protest last month calling for Britain to allow asylum seekers in.

Towards the end of the protest in the northern port of Calais, about 150 people broke through a barrier around the port and about a third managed to board the "Spirit of Britain" ferry. 

Several hours later, police removed them, arresting 24 migrants and 11 members of the No Borders activist group.

The convictions came a day before a deadline of 19:00 GMT on Tuesday set by local authorities for people in the southern half of the Jungle migrant camp to leave.

The local government says the demolition will affect between 800 and 1 000 residents of the grim camp, which stands on a former toxic waste dump on the outskirts of Calais. It estimates there are currently about 3 700 people living there, all of whom are hoping to sneak aboard lorries heading for Britain.

But according to charities working in the camp, who say they have done a census, there are around 3 450 people living in the southern part - including 300 unaccompanied children.

The demolition "risks displacing migrants to other camps in the region, which is only moving the problem somewhere else", said Vincent De Coninck, a volunteer with Caritas. Conditions in other camps along the northern French coast are even more dire than those in the Jungle.