Hundreds heading for Britain kicked out of Paris camp
HUNDREDS of migrants trying to get to Britain were among more than 1,000 kicked out of an illegal shanty town in Paris yesterday.
Three hundred riot police moved in soon after 6am, forcing occupants to leave in pouring rain – the 35th such operation in Paris in two years.
The camp was on a traffic island close to La Chapelle Metro station in the north of the French capital and is notorious for migrants.
Asylum
Most of those moved on were from Afghanistan and were trying to get to Calais and across the Channel.
Ajmal Ghani, 26, an Afghan who has been in Paris for three weeks, said: “We want to get out of France as quickly as possible because the French treat us like dogs.
“They tear down our homes, take us to places miles away and then we are back on the streets days later. All we want to do is get to Britain.”
The camp was close to the crossChannel Eurostar railway hub at Gare du Nord. Also nearby is an official hostel where migrants can stay for up to two weeks. Many believe it is a magnet for thousands who then find themselves locked out.
A local council spokesman said: “These illegal camps present significant risks to the safety and health of their occupants.”
He said all of the migrants “will undergo a thorough examination of their administrative situation” before being offered “accommodation adapted to their situation”.
Some will pursue their asylum applications in France while others will be deported back across the border where they entered.
The number of migrants in Paris has swelled significantly since the destruction of the so-called Jungle in Calais last year, when around 8,000 men, women and children were dispersed to other parts of France.
President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to stick to France’s zerotolerance policy towards illegal camps. Despite this they continue to spring up in Paris and around Calais.