Nearly 1,000 migrants hailing mostly from Afghanistan were cleared from an illegal camp they set up in Paris, according to reports.
French authorities began the ‘evacuation’ at around 7 a.m on Thursday morning in the 18th arrondissement of the capital city.
Hundreds of ‘asylum seekers’ formed the squalid encampment under an aerial metro line at Barbès and Boulevard de la Chapelle immediately after a similar tent city was broken up in the same area in late October, BFMTV reports.
Video footage and photos of the eviction indicate the massive group was comprised predominantly of males, most of whom appeared to be relatively young.
Évacuation en cours du camp de réfugiés de Barbès à Paris.
Plusieurs centaines de personnes vont être orientées vers des hébergements temporaires. pic.twitter.com/my46b9KAjl
— Clément Lanot (@ClementLanot) November 17, 2022
“These are 80, 90% Afghans and a few people from East Africa,” Hélène Soupios-David, spokesperson for the France Terre d’Asile association, explained to AFP.
“At the scene, the situation was particularly complicated because it was starting to get very cold.”
In total, 956 migrants were relocated to shelters in and near the Île-de-France region.
The evacuation was the 17th of its kind so far this year in Île-de-France.
Read More: Police Clear Nearly 1,000 Migrants From Illegal Camp in Paris
