‘Jungle’ children on their way to Britain
A first group of unaccompanied migrant children left the Calais "Jungle" camp for Britain on Saturday, days after a French minister said the UK had a "moral duty" to take them in.
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The Calais prefecture confirmed that around two dozen unaccompanied minors were bound for a new life in Britain.
The children have family members, although it added that there was no "no deal for a larger-scale plan" evacuation of children.
"Five Syrian minors and one Afghan minor have just been transferred to the United Kingdom. From Monday, around 10 more minors will follow, then on Tuesday, about 10 more," a spokesman told French news agency AFP.
The children have been living in squalid conditions in the Calais encampment where charities estimate up to 10,000 migrants from Africa, the Middle East and Asia have settled in the hope of reaching Britain. The camp faces demolition.
The departure comes after French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said he was asking "Britain to assume its moral duty" by accepting unaccompanied children with family in the UK.
The British Red Cross has said 178 unaccompanied children in the camp have already been identified as having the right to claim asylum in Britain due to their family links.
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