The number of asylum-seekers seeking shelter on the streets of Paris has noticeably jumped since the start of the week and the closure of the notorious Calais ‘Jungle’ camp. Some of the boulevards are filled with tents and makeshift shelters.

The majority of migrants are now living in the 18th and 19 districts in the north of Paris near the Stalingrad metro station.

According to RT France, the population is currently up to 3,000 people, with many recently arriving from the Calais ‘Jungle.’

“We have seen a big increase since the start of the week. Last night, our teams counted 40 to 50 new tents there in two days,”Colombe Brossel, Paris deputy mayor in charge of security issues, told Reuters.

“It’s not a huge explosion in numbers but there is a clear increase,” she said. “Some of them come from Calais, others from other places.”

On Friday, volunteers distributed meals for the asylum-seekers in the camp. One of them told RT France that there are not “enough meals” for refugees.

The number of asylum seekers in the camp jumped from “2,000 people to 3,000 people and more, in two days, with the closure of Calais,” Heloise Mary, from the bureau of migration, told BFMTV.

Minister of Housing Emmanuelle Cosse, however, dismissed rumors that Calais migrants were moving into Paris, in a statement to AFP. “There is no influx of [refugees from] Calais to Paris,” she said.

The area near Stalingrad metro is ‘familiar’ to asylum-seekers. It has been a place for their temporary stay since winter 2016. Authorities relocated the majority of refugees living near the station back in September and bulldozed the makeshift camp. Between 400 and 2,000 asylum seekers were registered in the camp at different periods of the year. …continue reading and watching at Russia Today