Improvised migrant camps evacuated in Paris

Hundreds of migrants seeking shelter in improvised refugee camps in Paris were being evacuated on Tuesday by French security forces, police said.

The dismantled camps were located near the Porte de la Chapelle prefecture and had housed hundreds of migrants including Eritreans, Afghans, Sudanese and Romani people.

A Paris official told Efe news that some 350 police officers were involved in the evacuation operation, supported by an additional 100 state-run social service workers and NGO staffers.

According to France Info news, some 460 migrants had been expelled from the camps and were transferred by bus to refugee processing centres.

The prefecture stressed the fact that these were illegal campsites with serious health and security risks, both for migrants and local neighbours.

However, the police reassured that every migrant will be offered accommodation in the city.

These illegal campsites were located near a temporary refugee shelter, currently over capacity, which was created to accommodate potential asylum seekers in an attempt to shut down the illegal refugee and migrant campsites that sprang up across Paris and its periphery.

--IANS

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