France migrants

Hundreds without shelter after Grand-Synthe camp fire

About 500 people have been accommodated in gymnasiums but the rest, including unaccompanied children as young as 12, have been sleeping outside, NGOs say.

Candidates in the French presidential election have called for changes in migration policy.

Migration has been a key issue in the run-up to the poll on 23 April.

A spokesman for the centrist candidate, Emmanuel Macron, said an agreement with Britain that left the French acting "as its border guards" would have to be reviewed during Brexit negotiations.

France migrants: Huge fire guts Grande-Synthe Dunkirk camp

At least 10 people were injured when the fire tore through closely-packed huts at the Grande-Synthe camp, near the port of Dunkirk.

Last month officials said the camp would be dismantled because of unrest.

The French north coast has been a magnet for migrants trying to reach Britain.

"There is nothing left but a heap of ashes," said Michel Lalande, prefect of France's Nord region.

"It will be impossible to put the huts back where they were before," he added.