According to several local organizations, around 100 migrants, mainly unaccompanied minors, were evacuated from a camp in Paris's 12th arrondissement on the morning of Wednesday, March 20, under a prefectoral order citing a major security risk.
The prefectoral decree issued on Tuesday said that since the migrants set up camp in October in and around the tunnel at the end of Rue Villiot, their presence has intensified. These tents "not only impede the circulation of pedestrians and other non-motorized vehicles, but also present a significant risk to personal safety, insofar as, in the event of the flooding of the Seine, the occupants could find themselves trapped by the water and drown," the order stated. It added that there is also "a risk of accidental fire".
For several months, local organizations have been denouncing what they call the "social cleansing" of the Paris region. They claim that authorities are clearing the city's most impoverished residents off the streets in preparation for the 2024 Olympic Games, to be held in Paris from July 26 to August 11.