French government to take over running of Dunkirk migrants' camp, report
The French government is to take over the running of a major migrant camps on the Channel coast after a long dispute with the local council, Le Monde newspaper reports. The camp at Grande-Synthe, on the outskirts of Dunkirk, is currently managed by the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) NGO.
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Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve is to announce the move on 30 May during a visit to the camp during which he will be accompanied by Housing Minister Emmanuelle Cosse, the paper says.
The decision is "very good news", MSF's AndrΓ© Jincq told Le Monde.
Grande Synthe Mayor Damien CarΓͺme, a member of the Green party EELV, also welcomed it.
CarΓͺme was promised state help when he met Cazeneuve last September after the number of migrants in his town grew from a few dozen to 2,500.
But the aid was not forthcoming and the local council itself built showers and garbage disposal facilities and went on to plan a camp with wood cabins with MSF.
Despite differences with regional and national authorities the camp opened on 7 March and, according to Le Monde, Cazeneuve promised that the government would help with financing the camp's infrastructure on 31 March.
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