Thousands of migrants cleared from streets of Paris

[Anthea]

France launches crackdown against migrants
thousands cleared from streets of Paris

Police move in to clears one of the many makeshift migrant camps in Paris

Officials had turned a blind eye as thousand of homeless asylum-seekers flocked to the scores of makeshift camps that sprung up around the city.

But outrage at a spate of deadly terror attacks, growing numbers of migrants living in squalid street camps and a drastic dip in visitor numbers to Paris led to the new hardline approach.

Thousands of migrants have been living in squalid conditions

The mood in the capital is already sombre with several popular summer festivals cancelled or curtailed because of terror fears and a massive police presence as part of the state of emergency declared by President Francois Hollande in response to the ISIS attacks.

Police have now carried out around 30 raids on the camps which usually consist of tents, mattresses, sleeping bags and cardboard boxes beneath Metro rail tracks or beside canals.

Thousands of migrants and asylum-seekers are now believed to have been swept from the streets as part of the ongoing operations.

Police struggle with a migrant at a Paris camp

Many have been taken into custody and served orders to leave France and return to the European country of entry,

Interior ministry figures show that at least 13,000 people have been removed from the makeshift street camps over the summer.

Some were initially given temporary shelter in sports halls and gyms but the offers of emergency accommodation now appear to have been withdrawn as part of the crackdown.

The migrants, many from Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia and Afghanistan, have staged protests against their treatment at the hands of the police and there have been violent scenes at some the camps.

The head of the French Immigration and Integration Office, Didier Leschi, said some were passing through France and were planning to seek asylum in other European countries.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/699 ... s-hollande