The number of refugees placed in Calais area has reached unprecedented levels, with about 6,000 living in terrible conditions in the French port and nearly two thousand more in rapidly expanding “jungles” in nearby towns, Telegraph reports.

The site is located 7 km from the city itself, on a former rubbish tip with no access to water or power.

800 French artists and intellectuals have called in an open letter for more humane conditions for the about 6,000 refugees in the refugee camp in Calais.

The Libération news agency publishes also the appeal and seconds the authors’ demands:

“In the world’s sixth-largest economy it is unthinkable that sufficient funds cannot be freed up to provide dignified living conditions in the jungle of Calais. … We must listen to the humanitarian organisations on location, we must listen to the associations and the mayor of Calais, a member of the [conservative] The Republicans party for whom a sense of solidarity and realism comes before the rhetoric of her own party. The jungle of Calais must not be allowed to go to seed like this. Otherwise our republic’s most basic values will be trodden underfoot.”

Fabienne Buccio, the French government’s top official for the Calais region, told Reuters that the number of the arrivals at the port town was unprecedented.

“I do not know what comes next, but 6,000 is the most we can take,” she said.