France

Hundreds of French police cleared an improvised camp dubbed "the jungle" on Sept. 22 where illegal migrants, mostly Afghans, gather near the port of Calais before trying to cross to Britain. Dozens of charity workers formed a human wall before a group of migrants, who carried banners declaring "the jungle is ours." Police made 278 arrests as they loaded migrants onto buses. Immigration Minister Eric Besson defended the operation, announced last week, which has been heavily criticized by humanitarian groups. He said the "jungle" had become "an open air dumping ground" in which migrants were brutally exploited by criminals in unhygienic and unsafe conditions. (Reuters)