Police clear migrant camp in northern France

By Hajer M'tiri

PARIS

French police on Thursday evicted nearly 500 migrants and refugees from a makeshift camp at Grande-Synthe in the north of the country.

The camp residents, mostly Iraqi Kurds, were sent to reception centers elsewhere in the department, according to local authorities.

At least 2,000 people used to live in a camp of 213 closely packed small wooden cabins built by Doctors Without Borders in Grande-Synthe until it was burned and reduced to ashes in April 2017.

In May and June, similar operations were conducted against the migrants and refugees residing there, affecting at least 900 people.

The Interior Ministry has already carried out nearly 40 such evacuation operations since 2015, clearing out more than 32,000 migrants.

Many of the migrants are reportedly requesting asylum in the EU country where they were first registered under the Dublin convention.

France received a record 100,000 asylum applications last year and offered refugee status to only 30,000 people. Nearly 14,900 were forcibly expelled.

According to a report published by French NGO ‘The Cimade' in June, France is turning away more and more migrants.