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PARIS (Reuters) - The French government will provide water and sanitation to migrants in Calais and open two reception centers away from the city, it said hours after a court ordered it to end what it called inhuman treatment of foreigners trying to get to Britain.

Less than a year after "the Jungle", a vast shanty town next to the northern port city, was razed, migrants have returned, with charities and the national human rights watchdog fiercely critical of the squalid conditions they live in.

Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said there were about 350-400 migrants around Calais, compared with the estimated 10,000 who used to live in the Jungle. The two new centers to house them will be in Bailleul and Troisvaux, about an hour's drive inland.

"We don't want to repeat the mistakes of the past but we also want to handle the problems in Calais," Collomb said, indicating a determination to avoid providing facilities that could draw migrants to the town, making it once more a hub for those trying to reach Britain.

Access to water, showers and toilets will be provided in the Calais area via mobile facilities, Collomb said.

Earlier on Monday, France's top administrative court, the Conseil d'Etat, ruled that the treatment of migrants was unlawful.

"The Conseil d'Etat considers that these living conditions reveal a failure by the public authorities that has exposed these people to inhuman or degrading treatment," it said in a statement.

"These shortcomings are a serious and unlawful infringement on a fundamental freedom."

It said a lower court was within its rights to order the provision of toilets, drinking water and showers.

France has avoided the brunt of Europe's migrant crisis, receiving a fraction of the asylum seekers handled by Italy or Germany.

While President Emmanuel Macron has called for migrants to be treated with dignity, his government has refused to open a new reception center in Calais, saying it would act as a magnet for migrants.

Last week, Human Rights Watch pressed France to end what it described as recurrent police violence against migrants in Calais. Collomb said there would be an investigation into police behavior.

The European Union is struggling to find a coherent answer to a migration crisis that has tested cooperation between member states. Macron has instructed his government to speed up France's asylum process.

Reporting by Richard Lough, Celia Mebroukine, Marine Pennetier; Editing by Ingrid Melander and Robin Pomeroy

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France to set up migrant centers outside Calais after court ruling - Reuters

In a sign of the growing schism between the region and Brussels Hungary and Slovakia launched scathing attacks on the European Court of Justice (ECJ) accusing it of political activism.

Yesterday the courts advocate general, Yves Bot, issued an opinion urging judges to reject the two countries application to strike out the EUs migrant resettlement programme.

Eurocrats want member states to resettle 160,000 refugees from Greece and Italy under a forced allocation system, which was voted through in 2015 despite opposition from Eastern countries.

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Hungary and Slovakia, supported by Poland, refused to take in their share and instead launched a legal battle to try and prove that the system is a breach of their sovereignty.

But yesterday French official Mr Bot dealt that effort a serious blow with the publication of his recommendation, which raised eyebrows due to its highly political nature.

The advocate general accused the two countries of failing to show solidarity with other member states and said they were politically duty bound to a fair sharing of burdens.

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But his opinion drew a furious response from Budapest and Bratislava, who vowed to carry on fighting the quota scheme and launched stinging attacks on the Luxembourg court.

A spokesman for Slovakian prime minister Robert Fico was unrepentant, fierily stating that the premier reiterates that he will never accept any mandatory quotas.

And Hungarian justice minister Pal Volner went on the attack against activist European judges, saying it would be very sorry if the court decides to become part of the political process.

He accused the EU of a deliberate attempt to upset and jeopardise the European peoples peace and security as part of a forced process of unknown origin.

We will never accept any mandatory quotas

Slovakian Government

And he raged: The main elements of this statement are political, which are practically used to disguise the fact that there are no legal arguments in it.

Our legal position is unchanged. If the court bases its decision on the law then we will welcome it positively and we will be very sorry if the court decides to become part of the political process.

In his opinion published yesterday, French official Mr Bot unequivocally stated that judges at the ECJ should dismiss the actions brought by Slovakia and Hungary when they come before them later this year.

He rejected claims by Hungary and Slovakia that the quota scheme should have been put to national parliaments, and not just decided by EU leaders, and that MEPs should have been handed a greater role in shaping it.

And the magistrate said the fact that the fact the decision was not adopted unanimously did not invalidate it, because the Commission did not object to amendments leaders had made to the initial proposal.

Mr Bot wrote: The contested decision automatically helps to relieve the considerable pressure on the asylum systems of Italy and Greece following the migration crisis in the summer of 2015 and that it is thus appropriate for attaining the objective which it pursues.

The limited efficacy can be explained by a series of factors including the partial or total failure of certain Member States (including Slovakia and Hungary) to implement the contested decision, which is contrary to the obligation concerning solidarity and the fair sharing of burdens, to which the Member States are subject in the area of asylum policy.

Judicial activism at the ECJ has become an issue of increasing concern amongst member states and is seen as one of the key reasons why Britain is determined to leave the jurisdiction of the court after 2019.

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'We will NEVER accept' Eastern Europe launches FURIOUS fightback against EU migrant ruling - Express.co.uk

President Mattarella accused the European Union and its member states of taking a "non-suitable" approach to addressing the increasing arrivals of migrants from African coasts to Italian seaports.

Speaking to the annual Ambassadors Conference held at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mattarella reprimanded European colleagues for the "borderline quips" he received in response to a continued plea for help in managing the migrant crisis that has overtaken Italian coasts over the past few years.

"We want a serious and responsible discussion with everyone. There's no time for offhand jokes or borderline quips."

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"Those are not suited to international dialogue and confrontation. In this context, your [the Ambassadors] efforts in Brussels, in the European capitals, in the Mediterranean and African ones, are essentials."

Mattarella's remarks come following a report from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) revealed that 111,514 migrants arrived in Europe since January 2017, 85% of whom were registered in Italy.

The report also revealed that nearly 2,360 people attempted to cross the Mediterranean sea but ultimately failed.

The Italian President suggested the solution could be found through the "stabilisation of crisis areas" such as Libya.

"The stabilisation of crisis areas, Libya first of all, require a reaction that transcends the abilities of single countries or the willingness of international partnerships."

Mattarella said that Italy has taken the burden of the crisis "because of its sensitivity, tradition and culture" and will continue in its effort to facilitate the integrations and the asylum-seeking process of those migrants who decide to settle in Italy.

European Commission Jean-Clause Juncker wrote to President Mattarella to let him know the European Union is ready to "mobilise 100m" (89.2m) should "Italy's government feel it necessary" to deal with the migrant crisis.

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WATCH: Italian President blasts EU for laughing and joking while his country is in CRISIS - Express.co.uk

BBC News

EU migrant crisis: Austria can deport asylum seekers, court says BBC News The case, brought by Austria and Slovenia, could affect the future of several hundred people who arrived during the migrant crisis of 2015-16. The ruling concerns two Afghan families and a Syrian who applied for asylum after leaving Croatia. The court ... and more »

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EU migrant crisis: Austria can deport asylum seekers, court says - BBC News

Complaints from Slovakia and Hungary were thrown out by the Advocate General who said the scheme was 'appropriate'

A EURO judge has ruled eastern European nations should be forced to accept refugees under a controversial Brussels migrant crisis plan.

Complaints from Slovakia and Hungary were thrown out by Advocate General Yves Bot, who said the scheme was appropriate.

EPA

And he blamed the two countries for the partial or total failure in the fair sharing of burdens in the crisis.

Commission President Jean Claude Juncker two years ago urged member states to lift the burden on Greece and Italy by divvying up and resettling their share of 160,000 refugees and migrants.

New figures revealed so far just 24,700 have been moved from Greece and Italy under the plan.

The slow progress triggered a move by Brussels for mandatory quotas across member states.

In March Hungarys hard line PM Viktor Orban labelled Europes refugee policy a Trojan Horse of Terrorism. Poland has also refused to take a single asylum seeker under the plan.

Speaking today EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said: If these member states decide to change position, we are ready to work with them to address their concerns.

We dont want to go on like this.

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Euro judge rules eastern European nations should be forced to accept refugees under controversial EU migrant crisis ... - The Sun