France will dismantle the squalid shanty town where thousands of migrants live in the port city of Calais, France's President Francois Hollande says.
"The situation is unacceptable and everyone here knows it," Hollande said on a visit to the northern city, where in the region of 10,000 migrants live in a makeshift camp known at the "Jungle".
"We must dismantle the camp completely and definitively."
Hollande delivered a stern message too to Britain, saying he expected London to fully honour agreements on managing a flow of migrants who mostly flock to Calais from war zones likely Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq in the hope of reaching Britain by boat, train or in stowed away in the back of cargo trucks.
"I also want to restate my determination that the British authorities play their part in the humanitarian effort that France is undertaking and that they continue to do that in the future," Hollande said.
Although camps have existed in Calais for years, the Jungle site formed in early 2015 and consists of tents, makeshift huts and publicly funded containers.
Authorities say that 6,500-7,500 people are settled there, while aid organisations put the figure at 10,000.
Migrants in Calais regularly try to climb onto trucks or other vehicles in order to get to Britain via the English Channel tunnel.
Britain has already committed around STG85 million ($A144 million) in total to reinforce security in the Calais region.
In recent days work has started on a barrier dubbed the "Great wall of Calais".
The four-metre-high concrete wall, which stretches for 1km, is being built along the main motorway to the port in northern France.
The closure plan will see 40 to 50 people being held at each of the reception centres in regions across France for up to four months while authorities investigate their cases.
Those who do not seek asylum would be deported.
