Three migrants from the Grande-Synthe camp near Dunkirk, northern France, were injured on Tuesday in what a charity worker said appeared to be a fight between rival bands of smugglers.

One of the three migrants was wounded by gunshots, an official at the local prefecture told Reuters. They were all taken to a Dunkirk hospital.

The French charity source, who declined to be named or identify his organzsation to avoid being targeted, said the incident appeared to be caused by a rift between smugglers.

Some 3,000 people, many of them Kurds, live in the makeshift camp in the town of Grande-Synthe just 35 km away from the "Jungle" camp in Calais on France's north coast.

Like in Calais, most of them hope eventually to reach Britain, across the Channel, where better job opportunities and the more familiar English language are big draws.