EUROPE-MIGRANTS/FRANCE-UPDATE French asylum charity welcomes Paris migrant camp eviction

Record ID: 149899

  • Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/FRANCE-UPDATE French asylum charity welcomes Paris migrant camp eviction
  • Date: 2nd June 2015
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (JUNE 2, 2015) (AGENCY POOL) VARIOUS OF TENTS IN MIGRANT CAMP
  • Embargoed: 17th June 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA131YM7XFBJ5EHKN8NX1WXN34M
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: As hundreds of migrants were moved on from a makeshift slum in the north of Paris on Tuesday (June 2), a French asylum charity hoped refugee status would mark the start of a new life for them.
    Some 380 migrants -- mostly from east Africa -- have been living in a squalid camp under a railway bridge near the Gare du Nord train terminal since last year.
    Shortly after 06:00 (04:00GMT) police acting on the instructions of city hall moved in to evict the migrants who are to be temporarily rehoused in hotels in and around the city.
    Aid workers from charity France Terre d'Asile were among those on hand to help the migrants as they were loaded with their luggage onto a series of coaches.
    The association's general secretary, Pierre Henry, told journalists gathered at the perimeter fence which closed off the operation that the living conditions in the camp meant something had to be done.
    "People who have been living in excrement and filth for months, let's be clear about this, and don't any have information about their rights, this situation had to be stopped. It is being stopped and that's a very good thing," he said.
    The 250 tents were crammed under a raised subway line in the La Chapelle district of Paris, with many possessions abandoned as the migrants were moved on.
    France Terre d'Asile hoped that the migrants would be awarded refugee status by the French authorities, giving them official papers and access to government support.
    As the eviction in Paris continued, French media reported that two migrant camps were also being evacuated in the northern coastal town of Calais, a hotbed of tension as migrants attempt to reach Britain.
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