Some 2,000 migrants were taken to the newly built camp on Wednesday as authorities scrambled to cope with delays at the border after Balkan countries imposed transit restrictions at the weekend. Demolition crews are set to move into a sprawling slum camp in Calais for thousands of migrants trying to get to Britain, as French authorities try to close an embarrassing and often shocking chapter in Europe's migrant crisis. Closing the camp — known as "the jungle" — would be the most dramatic step by the French state to end Calais' years-long migrant problem, which has transformed this port city into a high-security tension point, fueled far-right sentiment and defied British and French government efforts to make it go away. An eviction deadline Tuesday for the camp's southern sector came and went, with migrants and humanitarian groups trying to stave off bulldozers via a legal complaint, a letter to the interior minister and public pleas. Lawmakers also approved plans to amend laws so even a suspended prison sentence would be grounds for deportation if someone is found guilty of certain crimes including bodily harm, sexual assault or violent theft. [...] south, dozens of families, many with young children, determined to reach the border area began walking north along a highway in central Greece after being stuck on buses due to roadblocks by farmers protesting pension reform. Greece is maintaining its threat to take unilateral action if other EU nations take actions that would force Athens to shelter ever more migrants and refugees. Deputy Interior Minister Ioannis Mouzalas criticized a meeting in Vienna where Austria and many of its southern neighbors along the Balkan route agreed to tighter border controls and warned that sooner or later they will have to shut their doors entirely.
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