Migrant camp in central Paris being cleared by police

The police in France removed migrants from a temporary camp in Paris near the Seine River on Tuesday. Aid groups say this is part of a plan to clear out poor people before the Summer Olympics.

Early in the morning on a very cold April day, police woke up about 30 young boys and men from West Africa. They were told to pack up their tents and things. Most of them were young and trying to get papers to live in the country.

“I was already afraid, but now I’m even more scared because I don’t know where to go,” said 16-year-old Boubacar Traore. He ran away from fighting in Burkina Faso and came to France two months ago.

The police evicted a big squatter camp near Paris a few days ago. Now they are carrying out an operation.

Every spring, migrant tent camps are cleared out after a break in the winter. During the break, the authorities do not remove anyone from the camps.

“But organizations helping migrants and other vulnerable people in Paris are saying that they are working harder before the Olympics. ” They mention that instead of getting a place to stay near Paris, where many asylum-seekers have court dates, they are being sent far away from the capital.

The officials want to make sure the Olympics Games are held in a tidy place. “They want to hide the fact that many migrants and asylum seekers live in Paris from the tourists,” said Elias Hufganel, a volunteer helping refugees and immigrants at the Paris tent camp on Tuesday.

The police in Paris did an operation for safety reasons because the tent camp was close to schools.

Two big buses were on a street nearby going to Besançon, which is about 400 kilometers (240 miles) southeast of Paris. Officials suggested moving the young men to a new place and giving them a place to stay for three weeks. But many people didn’t want to accept the offer because they were afraid of becoming even more alone and not having a plan after the three weeks ended.

Traore didn’t want to go on the trip because he has a court date in Paris in two days. We didn’t know where he would sleep on Tuesday night.