French court OKs Calais migrant camp closure, amid NGO fears

An aerial view of a makeshift migrant camp near Calais, France, Monday, Oct. 17, 2016. The government is gradually deporting migrants without right to asylum and relocating the rest to more than 160 centers around France. It is expected to close the camp in the coming weeks but no official dates have been announced. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) (The Associated Press)

PARIS – A French court has rejected a request by aid groups to delay the closure of the migrant camp in Calais.

French authorities are expected to clear out the 6,000 to 10,000 migrants from the camp, also known as "the jungle," in the coming weeks, and then dismantle it by the start of winter. The migrants are being relocated around France or deported.

Several aid groups filed an emergency request last week to postpone the closure, arguing that authorities aren't ready to relocate its residents. A Lille court rejected the request Tuesday, according to Pierre Henry of aid group Terre d'Asile.

Charity groups warn that many of the migrants don't want to stay in France and may set up camp elsewhere to continue trying to cross the English Channel to Britain.