Calais camp ‘the place migrants stayed earlier than Channel tragedy’ dismantled

French police have broken up the Calais camp thought to have been the place where migrants stayed just before their bid to cross the Channel in an overcrowded boat ended in tragedy with 12 drowned.

Officers moved in this morning in a fleet of vans barely 24 hours after the tragedy, MailOnline can reveal.

The breakfast time raid made a clean sweep of the illegal camp which had been erected on the outskirts of Calais at Petit Courgain.

Among those who were moved on today were thought to be a number of survivors of Tuesday’s tragedy.

Some were said to have been moved to a site in the South of France, many hundreds of miles away.

The camp, made up of 500 people mostly thought to be from Eritrea, had tents and personal items removed.

French police have broken up the Calais camp thought to have been the place where migrants stayed just before their bid to cross the Channel in an overcrowded boat ended in tragedy with 12 drowned (File image) 

Migrants in their jungle camp, Calais, France

Many locals who dislike the migrant camps cheered the police move but aid workers condemned the timing when they were reeling with grief at losing friends.

Migrant support group Care4Calais which sent helpers to the dismantled camp, said in a statement: ‘The majority people on the boat were from the Eritrean community.

‘The community is in deep mourning and shock over the tragedy but this seems to have meant nothing to the authorities who chose to target the largest Eritrean site in Calais for the latest site of eviction and destruction.’

It said migrants were ‘cruelly and brutally cleared by police’ with tents and belongings seized and destroyed.

Police have their work cut out not only to prevent migrants from travelling to the coastline, but in keeping them in check with several sites around Calais being used by Sudanese, Eritrean and Somalian migrants.

And indeed within hours of this morning’s dozens of Eritreans had already returned begun to reestablish a new camp in the same spot, supported by the care workers who arrived with vans of food to feed them.

Among the returnees to Petit Courgain was a teenage girl who was plucked from the water after the boat sank sending more than 50 people into the English Channel.

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, from a Border Force vessel following a small boat incident in the Channel

Border Force Ranger Picks Up A Large Dinghy In Uk Waters

Hildia, 17, from Eritrea, knew the pregnant woman, who drowned and said she was in shock after being rescued along with here mother.

‘ I cannot swim and I swallowed a lot of water, I was vomiting for a long time afterwards’ she said.

‘There are some very good people who have been killed. I am very sorry for that.’

But she and her mother, who spoke little English and wore a hijab, said they would try again to cross the channel and reach Britain soon.

Mail Online spoke to groups of young men who declared their intention to reach England, despite the latest disaster

Ali, 24, from Chad in Sudan, said: ‘ England is a beautiful country and the language is beautiful too. I dream of the day that I reach there.’

Asked why he was prepared to risk himself to circumnavigate the dangers of the sea, he said: ‘ I have no life here and no life in Sudan. If it is God’s will, then I will be in England soon. I am not scared of the sea because I cannot swim, that is true.’

The police investigation is cantered on men from the Middle East who are said to have masterminded Tuesdays trip across the channel.

Detectives are examining local bus transport records as they have been told two buses took the migrants from outside Boulogne Railway Station to Le Porte where they embarked on the fateful trip.

Officers will also look for help from banks in case thousands of euros in cash are suddenly deposited by the people smugglers who charged each traveller €1500.

A manslaughter probe is underway, but if claims that the inflatable dinghy was slashed with a knife are proved, it is likely to begin a mass murder investigation.

Officials said the water craft showed signs of being ‘ripped.’