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French police have begun an operation to clear a notorious immigrant squatter camp on the outskirts of Calais.
Police public order teams gathered at local barracks in the French port, ahead of an operation to detain illegal immigrants and demolish the makeshift camp, known as 'the Jungle'.
As the first dozen officers entered the camp a small group of rights activists formed a human chain trying to bar access to the migrants, shouting "no border, no nation, stop deportation" As we don't want them in Britain the French can keep them.
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 illegal immigrants.
The main focus is on an area about half a mile south-east of the main port, known as the 'Pashtun jungle' due to the fact it is largely populated by Afghan migrants.
Other migrant dwellings in Calais have already been hit by police raids, including a Sudanese 'jungle' to the west of the port, and another Afghan dominated area on the dune land to the East, known as the 'Hazara jungle'.
A row of houses closer into the main town that is dominated by Africans, largely from Eritrea, has also been targeted.
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. But aid agencies have predicted that many will end up back on the streets.
Fifteen-year-old Sail Pardes, from eastern Afghanistan, had been at the camp for six months and was hoping to make his way to England. He added: "Most of the time we're tired. The most important thing is to get to England. I want to go to school and become a better person." 
Taken at face value  that statement is hard to resist. Unfortunately experience shows that too many of those other boys and young men who have come to England have not become 'better people' in the sense that English adults understand it.
The Telegraph reported last night on a specific aspect of this clearance.
While most (of the immigrants) are resigned to seeing their tarpaulin and wooden shelters torn to the ground, they are determined to preserve the mosque.
"It is a holy place where we pray night and day. The police must not harm it,' said Rachid, a 21-year-old Afghan. "We are expecting the worst when the police arrive, but we will defend our mosque at all costs."
The makeshift structure is the best built in the camp. Young men, prostrate in prayer, can be seen inside. Yesterday, it was surrounded by fresh flowers.
(Said) Mansoor, 32 and also from Afghanistan. "We do not want any trouble, but fighting sometimes breaks out because of the way we are treated. If they show disrespect to our mosque then we will respond accordingly."
The French authorities have waited until the end of the Muslim feast of Ramadan before tearing down the jungle, which has become a magnet for people from all over the world who want to get across to Dover, where they claim asylum or disappear into Britain's black economy.