On Tuesday, January 28, a large migrant camp was evacuated in northern Paris. According to the prefecture of the Ile-de-France region, referred to by France-Presse, up to 1800 people lived in this settlement in Port d’ Aubervilliers. This operation to evacuate the camp became the 60th since 2015.
1436 residents of the camp were transported by bus to specially organized reception centers. According to the prefecture, among them – 93 children.
The France-Presse agency quotes Fatima, a 38-year-old Ivorian who lived in a camp with three young daughters: “We slept in a tent, it was dirty in the camp. Let’s see what the prefecture has to offer us. So far we do not know anything about what will happen next, but we remain hopeful. ”
Another resident of the camp – 29-year-old Yussuf – approved the evacuation of the camp. “This operation is simply a relief, because it has become increasingly difficult to endure the cold. I am glad of the opportunity to get shelter over my head, even if I know that this is only for a while, ”admitted a man who appeared on the street in December 2019 after he did not receive refugee status. Prior to that, he was waiting for the status and lived in a special reception center.
The evacuation of the camp in Port d’ Aubervilliers took place in the presence of the prefect of the Paris police Didier Lallman. He recalled that the operation took place within the framework of the commitments undertaken by the Minister of the Interior Christoph Castaner to free the northeast of the capital from spontaneous settlements, where people live in unsanitary conditions. He also added that “poverty, despair, and crime” flourish in such migrant camps.
According to Lallman, he proposed to the Interior Minister to change the approach to the areas that are vacated after evacuation and to prevent the construction of new settlements on the site of the dismantled ones. To do this, it is supposed to use police forces. “We will not restart the endless cycle of evacuations and erection. Citizens will not understand this, ”said the prefect,
Recall that on November 7, 2019, the Paris police evacuated another camp – near Port de la Chapelle. About 1600 people lived in it. Since then, special control has been established in the liberated territory by the joint efforts of the regional prefecture and the Paris police to prevent the restoration of the spontaneous settlement
At the same time, in the two months between the evacuation of the camps in Port de la Chapelle and Port d’ Aubervilliers, a new settlement arose on a neighboring site near Port de la Villette. According to AFP, about 300 people now live there.