Paris Police evict migrants from makeshift camp in action decried as 'social cleansing'

Paris police evicted underage migrants from a makeshift camp on Tuesday morning as part of what aid groups are calling a campaign of “social cleansing” in advance of the 2024 Olympics.

Around 30 teenage boys and young men from West Africa sleeping on the street were awoken by police before dawn on Tuesday morning and told to pack up their tents and belongings.

Most were underage and in the process of seeking residency papers.

“I was already scared but I am even more scared because I don’t know where to go,” said a 16-year-old boy who fled from conflict in Burkina Faso and arrived in France two months ago.

Police said the operation was carried out for security reasons, notably because the camp was sited near schools.

The operation came days after police carried out a large scale eviction of France’s biggest squatter camp in a suburb of southern Paris.

“This is another example of the social cleansing that is happening in Paris before the Olympic Games,” said Elias Hufnagel, a volunteer with a group serving refugees and immigrants.

“They don’t want the tourists to see Paris as a city full of migrants and asylum seekers.”