A French university has taken the rather extreme measure of suspending lectures on one of its campuses after refugees and asylum seekers set up home on the site.
In a move that might be deemed slightly over the top, lessons were suspended at the University of Reims Champagne Ardenne (URCA) in northeastern France on Monday “until further notice” because of the presence of around 40 migrants on the campus, according to French media reports.
The measure, which affected around 8,000 students, banned access to the premises of the Croix-Rouge campus until “conditions of security have been re-established,” said the president of the university Guillaume Gellé on Sunday night.
“I demand security for all concerned,” added Gellé. “You can see in this camp there are children and minors.”
The incident comes just two weeks after the new term started at the university of law, economics, arts and social sciences, after the summer break.
France’s main student union, Unef, called for “the families to be moved out of the Croix-Rouge campus of the University of Reims Champagne Ardenne.”
The same people were “pushed to leave their makeshift shelters” in the town’s St John Perse park, which locals recently labelled a “mini Calais”.
“We call on the local authorities, the mayor of Reims and the district to urgently house these families,” said Unef.