PARIS (AP) — French police evicted migrants from a makeshift tent-camp next to Paris City Hall early on Tuesday, the latest clear-out of people without homes that aid groups allege is a campaign to beautify the French capital ahead of the Summer Olympics.
In an operation that began before dawn, police woke around 100 teenage boys and young men from West Africa, telling them to pack their tents and belongings.
Paris police said the operation was carried out for security reasons, notably because the camp was near schools.
Paris-region officials told the men — many of them minors and in the process of seeking residency papers — that they could be housed temporarily for three weeks in the Loire-region town of Angers if they wished. A bus was waiting in a nearby street to take them first to a Paris-region transit center.
Only two or three men boarded the bus. Most of the others walked away, carrying their belongings. Some said they feared being left isolated and abandoned in Angers, 250 kilometers (150 miles) southwest of the French capital, once the three weeks of temporary accommodation run out.
I visited the most crowded island on Earth
Former corrections officer sentenced to 4 years for using excessive force
PSG faces a difficult rebuilding task without Mbappé as the curtain falls on superstar era
Travis Kelce cast in FX's 'American Horror Story: Grotesquerie'
Lafrenière continuing his breakthrough season as a solid contributor for Rangers in NHL playoffs
Selena Gomez says she is releasing her pent
Tiger Woods to feature at PGA Championship along with 16 LIV golfers
EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: US officials sink Prince Harry's 'vague' plan to trademark Sentebale charity
How Diddy made himself the 'victim' in apology video where he does not mention ex
WBC strips Jermall Charlo of middleweight title following DUI arrest. Carlos Adames is new champion
Judge orders man accused of opening fire outside Wrigley Field held without bail
Mexico tightens travel rules on Peruvians in a show of visa diplomacy to slow migration to US