Migrants defiant after Calais camp raids

French police clear hundreds of illegal migrants from a makeshift camp in Calais. Photo / AP

French police cleared three migrant camps in the port of Calais because of concerns over an outbreak of scabies and increasing violence, but the migrants said they will stay put and keep trying to reach Britain.

The authorities insisted the areas needed to be cleared and razed because of deplorable hygiene conditions and after receiving complaints from locals that the number of migrants under the sway of human traffickers in the port area had doubled in the past few weeks.

Officials said it was a coincidence that the operation took place just three days after the anti-immigration Front National had caused a political earthquake by coming first in European elections in France.

Early in the morning, around 200 riot police surrounded the camps containing an estimated 550 migrants from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Pakistan, Somalia and Syria after a deadline to leave had expired. The camps were later bulldozed.

In total there were up to 850 migrants believed to be in the Calais area yesterday, most of whom were aiming to reach Britain.

Doctors said around 25 per cent of the migrants had scabies.

Such camps have sprung up in the Calais area since the French authorities closed down the infamous Sangatte immigrant detention centre in 2002, which at one point had housed around 2000 people.

Denis Robin, the prefect of the Pas-de-Calais region, defended the operation.

"It's a public health issue. All the studies indicated there was a scabies epidemic. These camps are very big and are located in the heart of Calais."

He said the camps were posing a security threat for local residents.