A French court has upheld plans to raze part of the Calais Jungle after authorities set migrants and refugees a deadline to leave the area.
A judge in Lille ruled the southern section of the makeshift camp can be dismantled except for schools and places of worship, including churches and mosques.
State authorities say up to 1,000 migrants will be affected by the move but charities warn as many as 3,455 people could be forced to find new homes.
Last week, officials set migrants a deadline of 8pm on Tuesday to leave the camp but it was later postponed following fears over the number of people being displaced.
Prefect Fabienne Buccio, the top official in France's northern Pas-de-Calais region, said earlier this month: “It's time to tell the migrants of Calais, who live in undignified conditions and give Calais an image that isn't dignified either, that we have a solution for each of you."
But aid agencies said there are not enough containers to house those displaced by the bulldozers.
Workers fear mass eviction will result in the problems being shifted elsewhere, such as to the swamp-like Grande-Synthe camp along the northern French coast in Dunkirk.
Last week, Mayor of Calais Natacha Bouchart said clearing the camp was a “sensitive situation” but that it would keep migrants and refugees away from activists bent on causing disruption.
