On Tuesday, January 28, a large migrant camp was evacuated to northern Paris. According to the prefecture of the Ile-de-France region, to which the agency France-Presse refers, there were up to 1800 people living in this settlement in Port d’Aubervilliers. This operation to evacuate the camp has been the 60th since 2015.
1,436 camp residents were transported by bus to specially organized reception centers. According to the prefecture, among them there are 93 children.
The agency France-Presse quotes Fatima, a 38-year-old Ivorian woman who lived in the camp with three young daughters: “We slept in a tent, the camp was dirty. We’ll see what the prefecture has to offer us. We don’t know anything yet about what’s going to happen, but we’re still hopeful”.
Another camp dweller, 29-year-old Yussuf, approved the evacuation of the camp. “This operation is just a relief, because it was getting harder and harder to bear the cold. I’m glad to be able to get shelter over my head, even though I know it’s only for a while”, – confessed the man, who found himself on the street in December 2019 after not receiving refugee status. Before that, he had waited for status and lived in a special reception centre.
The evacuation of the camp in Port d’Aubervilliers was held in the presence of the Prefect of the Paris police, Didier Lallman. He recalled that the operation was part of the commitment made by the Minister of the Interior, Christophe Castaner, to free the north-east of the capital from unhealthy settlements where people live in unsanitary conditions. He also added that “poverty, despair and crime” thrive in such migrant camps.
Lallman said he suggested that the head of the Interior Ministry should change the approach to the areas being liberated after the evacuation and prevent the construction of new settlements in place of the dismantled ones. That would involve police forces. “We will not restart an endless cycle of evacuations and erections. Citizens will not understand this”, – the prefect said,
Recall that on November 7, 2019 the Paris police evacuated another camp – near the Port de la Chapelle. There were about 1600 people living there. Since then, a joint effort of the Regional Prefecture and the Paris police has established a special control on the liberated territory to prevent the restoration of the spontaneous settlement.
In the two months that have elapsed between the evacuation of the camps in Port-de-la-Chapelle and Port-D’Aubervilliers, a new settlement has emerged on a nearby site near Port-de-la-Villette. According to AFP, there are now about 300 people living there.