Looking at the so-called “jungle” migrant camp in Calais from the air, it’s hard to imagine that it is set to disappear within weeks.
Winding alleys of multi-colored tents and makeshift shelters surround tidy rows of container housing, all stretching across muddy fields toward the dunes of the English Channel.
With a population the size of a small town — between 6,000 and 10,000 people still live there — the camp has taken on a feeling of permanence since it sprang up 18 months ago.
Amid health and safety concerns, authorities have promised to shut the camp and are gradually relocating migrants to temporary housing around France.
The most pressing issue is where to send the minors from the camp, which has become a dismal symbol of Europe’s migrant crisis.