Defiant Calais migrant vows new bid to get to UK as camp set to shut

An Afghan national who has been living in the Calais 'Jungle' camp for more than a year has told Sky News he will do whatever it takes to get the UK.

The man, who did not want to be identified, said he had risked his life trying to get onto lorries to sneak into Britain "so many times", such is the desperation to start a new life here.

He spoke to Sky's Jonathan Samuels as the first buses carrying migrants from the sprawling, rat-infested Jungle camp left for shelters in central France ahead of its demolition, due to start on Tuesday.

The mass exodus of refugees and migrants is now under way, with buses starting to disperse thousands of the camp's residents.

About 2,000 have been taken to centres around France after the first day of the police operation with about 4,500 others still left.

LIVE: Mass evictions begin in Calais 'Jungle'

People in the queues said they had no idea where they were going but most seemed resigned to leaving.

However, the Afghan national who spoke to Sky said he would remain in Calais for as long as possible and return if he is moved, for the chance, no matter how small, of eventually making his way to British soil.

"I don't want to leave... but they have told us we have to leave," he said. "We will try to stay here for as long as we can."

More than 6,000 refugees, many of them families and some 1,291 unaccompanied children, are believed to have been living at the camp.

The man is one of thousands who have made treacherous journeys to escape wars, dictators and poverty - dreaming of starting a better life in Britain.

This is why he does not want to leave the Jungle, he said.

"I just want to go to UK... and it is so difficult to pass the border."

:: First Calais 'Jungle' children with no UK links arrive in UK

The man said he left behind his mother and younger brother when he fled Afghanistan to escape the war there.

"If you think that your life is in danger obviously you have to leave the country. No-one likes to leave their country for no reason."

Explaining why he would prefer to come to the UK rather than stay in France, he said: "I have got more friends there. I think life down there is quite better, that's why I want to go."

He said he had been hit when trying to jump onto lorries in the past, saying: "Sometimes it is even more danger and sometimes you could lose your life.

"For us it is so difficult, so frustrating. You are living in the 'Jungle' like an animal.

"For us there is no plan, there is no life, there is nothing.

"We want to have a better life. If there is a chance that we can still get to UK then we will come back."

:: Why is the Calais 'Jungle' being destroyed?

Another migrant, Amadou Diallo, from Guinea Conakry in West Africa, said he did not mind where he ended up.

"I hope this works out," he said. "I'm alone and I just have to study.

The first bus to leave the notorious Jungle site had on board around 50 Sudanese people and was heading for the Burgundy region.

The complex operation to move the migrants, unprecedented in Europe, is expected to be finished by the end of the week.