Paris to open first refugee camp in October

The Paris mayor said two camps would be constructed, one for men and the other for women and children

PARIS: Paris will open its first refugee camp in mid-October, the city's mayor has said.

In May, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced that the site would conform to United Nations regulations and offer respite to homeless migrants within the city.

She said two camps would be constructed, one for men and the other for women and children.



She said she was inspired by work at Grande-Synthe in Dunkirk, on France’s northern coast, where the country’s first internationally recognised refugee camp opened earlier this year.

Wooden cabins have been built there to house up to 2,500 people, many of whom are attempting to reach the UK, along with thousands of other asylum seekers to the west in the Calais “Jungle”.

A string of boat disasters in the Mediterranean has put 2016 on course to be the deadliest year ever for refugees.



Deaths are up more than a third compared to the same period last year, according to figures compiled by the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR).

Around 204,000 asylum seekers have arrived by sea in Europe so far this year – 156,000 in Greece and 47,000 in Italy.