Until they are allowed into the UK, they say, they should be given houses in Calais and freedom from police checks.
Their demands follow the bulldozing of three illegal camps in the Channel port town on Wednesday.
A group representing more than 1,000 migrants still living rough in the area has handed an open letter to Denis Robin, the local prefect, containing a series of “demands” to help speed their passage to the UK.
Besides being given “houses in Calais with respectable hygiene, freedom from police checks, and three meals a day”, the migrants also want “negotiations between France and the United Kingdom” to ensure their arrival in Britain as soon as possible.
“We do not want to live like animals but as normal human beings,” the letter says, stating they want “access to decent living conditions regardless of whether we are documented or not”. Last night one migrant, Younes Sajadi, said: “This would be a sensible solution to our situation. We will never give up on our ambitions to get to Britain and so everybody would benefit if we could go there as soon as possible.”
The migrants mainly come from such war-torn countries as Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Eritrea.
Once in Britain they will claim asylum and all the social security and other benefits that entails. Such hospitality is not easily available in France which is why the migrants continually try to sneak aboard lorries heading here. A Sudanese migrant was killed a week ago after trying to conceal himself under a British coach in a supermarket carpark.
Calais Mayor Natacha Bouchart has long argued that Britain’s “generous welfare system” is the real cause of the migrant crisis in her town. M. Robin confirmed “negotiations” would continue with the migrants and the British authorities but said EU law stopped France letting undocumented foreigners make their way to the UK without checks.
Since the camps were destroyed many migrants have been wandering around the town. Police have been conducting a “no arrests” policy but that will change as the authorities try to stop more camps springing up. A Calais police spokesman said: “We are attempting to keep migrants away from the port area and to disperse them.”
M. Robin said an outbreak of highly-contagious scabies, a skin disease caused by mites, was the principal reason for destroying the camps but he also wanted to stop “build-ups” of migrants near the port.
As well as the “deplorable hygiene” conditions, Mr Robin said many of the migrants were “at the mercy of people smugglers”. About 70 younger migrants considered to be “vulnerable” have been relocated to a holiday camp 40 miles from Calais but they will be allowed to stay for only a few days.
Aid organisations said that dozens of migrants had made last-ditch attempts to get across the Channel during the past few days after being warned of the impending police operation.
Jean-Claude Lenoir, of the migrant support group Salam, said: “As if the situation is not tragic enough, these expulsions are leaving immigrants with nowhere to go.”
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