French police today celared an improvised camp dubbed "the jungle" where migrants gather near the port of Calais before trying to cross to Britain.
Hundreds of officers surrounded the camp at first light, rounding up dozens of people who had been living in the tent city on the edge of the Channel port. There were minor scuffles as the camp dwellers, some in tears, were led away.
Around 150 migrants were at the camp, standing quietly behind banners which declared: "We need shelter and protection, we want peace." Dozens of protesters had also gathered at the site ahead of the operation and began chanting slogans at the police.
As the police moved in, the activists began shouting: "No borders. No nation. No deportation." About a dozen migrants who were refusing to move were dragged and carried out of the camp by police.
The camp had been home to hundreds of mainly Afghan asylum seekers, some of them just children.
Moments before the police launched today's operation, about 100 people were huddled around a fire in an attempt to ward off the cold as the Muslim call to prayer rang out.
Fifteen-year-old Sail Pardes, from eastern Afghanistan, has been at the camp for six months and is hoping to make his way to England.
He said: "The most important thing is to get to England. I want to go to school and become a better person."
Sylvie Copyans, of aid group Salam, said some of the immigrants have been in the camp for up to eight months.
She said: "It's exactly like when they closed Sangatte. It's now exactly the same. They are saying no immigrants in Calais, they can't stay here. But if they are made to leave they will just go to another squat. It's more and more difficult every day."
She added: "They are young, they have a lot of hopes and wishes. They are brave and courageous. They often have no family, that is difficult for them."
Some camp dwellers were dragged away by police officers and put into waiting buses. Others were escorted out.
Protesters, some in tears, shouted slogans at the police, including: "Shame on France."
According to aid agencies, the immigrants were being taken in buses to police stations to be processed. From there they will be sent back to the countries where they entered European Union. It was thought that many will end up in Greece, one of the main points of entry for the immigrants.
The French authorities said there were 500-600 officers involved in today's operation. They detained 278 people, of whom 132 declared themselves children, according to the Prefect of Pas-de-Calais Pierre de Bousquet.
The adults were being taken to various police stations and the children to "special centres", he said.
Four police divisions had been drafted in to help, including the national anti-riot force the CRS.
The operation, announced last week, has been heavily criticised by humanitarian groups who say it will do nothing to solve the problem of illegal immigration, but Immigration Minister Eric Besson defended the move.
"I want us to dismantle this camp which is a base for people traffickers," he told RTL radio shortly after the operation began. "There are traffickers who make these poor people pay an extremely high price for a ticket to England.
"This is not a humanitarian camp. It's a base for people traffickers," he said.
He said around 250 people had been in the area yesterday but he was unaware of how many were still there as police moved in.
The makeshift tent city grew up after France closed a large Red Cross centre at nearby Sangatte in 2002 under pressure from Britain, which saw it as a magnet for clandestine immigrants.
Humanitarian groups say the high-profile closure of the "jungle" will merely move the illegal immigrants elsewhere in the area.
Britain has ruled out taking them in, and British Home Secretary Alan Johnson said genuine refugees should apply for asylum in the country where they entered the EU.
Those who are not escaping persecution should return home, he said.
Speaking after talks in Brussels with his French counterpart Eric Besson, Mr Johnson said reports that Britain could be "forced" to take illegal immigrants were wrong.
EU justice commissioner Jacques Barrot has demanded a change in European law to allow a "significant number" to be fast-tracked into Britain, it was reported.
Mr Johnson said: "I met today with Eric Besson at the Justice and Home Affairs council in Brussels to discuss the issue of illegal immigrants in northern France.
"I stressed the importance to our joint relationship of closing the 'jungle' at Calais and was delighted to be told that France is honouring our July agreement in Evian by closing the camp by the end of the week.
"The UK has a robust system for dealing with both asylum seekers and immigration and provides protection to those who are genuinely in need.
"Reports that the UK will be forced to take illegal immigrants from the 'jungle' are wrong.
"Both countries are committed to helping individuals who are genuine refugees, who should apply for protection in the first safe country that they reach.
"We expect those who are not in need of protection to return home."
"The measures that we have put in place are not only there to prevent illegal immigration but also to stop people trafficking.
"We are working with the French not only to strengthen our shared border but that of Europe as a whole."
Agencies