Human rights organizations stated that the early-morning eviction will condemn the asylum seekers to even more precarious conditions.
Early Tuesday morning, about 350 police officers were sent to northern Paris to evict more than 1,600 asylum seekers, who are largely from Afghanistan, Sudan and Eritrea.
The asylum seekers were living in squalid conditions in a makeshift camp that was built a few weeks ago. They created the camp near major access roads which lead into the French capital, only a few meters from a newly installed refugee transit center — set up, in November, by Paris city authorities and non-profit organization Emmaus.
The refugee transit center in the Porte de la Chapelle area is a unique initiative in France, meant to temporarily support refugees who arrive in the capital — about 200 per day. The center hosts the would-be immigrants for four days, before helping them to seek other housing alternatives.
But, the center was overwhelmed by the volume of refugees who arrived over the past month, mainly due to space restriction. After the center closes at night, hundred of refugees become dependent on the compassion of other organizations or Parisians in general; oftentimes resulting in tensions in the neighborhood — which seemingly justifies this morning's eviction proceedings.
According to Housing Minister Emmanuelle Cosse, authorities planned to evict them earlier, but delayed the operation because large numbers of police were tied up in the security operation for France's two-round election, which ended in victory for one-time banker and former Economy Minister, Emmanuel Macron.
Yann Manzi, from the refugee support group Utopia 56, urged people to direct the asylum seekers to the organization, so that they can peacefully distribute free meals without attracting the attention of the authorities.
"These people have often been confronted (by) violence in their perilous trip to here," he told daily Liberation. "We don't want to add more violence (on their minds)."
SOURCE: teleSUR
