CALAIS, France—Lines of migrants with their lives in small bags walked to a registration center in the French port city of Calais Monday, the first day of the mass evacuation and destruction of the filthy camp they called home.
French authorities are beginning a complex, major operation to shut down the makeshift camp, uprooting thousands who made treacherous journeys to escape wars, dictators or grinding poverty and dreamed of making a life in Britain.
Under the eye of more than 1,200 police, the first of hundreds of buses arrived to begin transferring migrants to reception centers around France where they can apply for asylum. The camp will then be leveled in a weeklong operation. Hotels and even castles are among the hundreds of centers officials have been converting to migrant housing.
