FRENCH POLICE EVICT HUNDREDS OF MIGRANTS – Migrants’ Occupation of Cultural Centre in Paris is Over
French police evicted hundreds of migrants who had been occupying a cultural centre in Paris for more than three months.
Hundreds of protesters were gathered outside the Gaite Lyrique cultural centre overnight, chanting against the eviction order for the migrants.
“We had no place to go, we were sleeping outside and we needed a roof so that we do not have to spend the night outdoors because this winter has been really cold here,” said Dialo Ammediou, a migrant from Guinea who came to France in October 2024.
“We had no choice but to occupy the Gaite Lyrique (cultural centre),” he added, speaking to reporters soon after he left the centre.
The occupiers left the building in the early hours of Tuesday mainly without the use of force. Police briefly used tear gas to disperse the protesters near the building, who gathered again shortly thereafter.
“Even though we are immigrants, a country that has colonised your country cannot do that,” said Dialo Abdelrahman, another migrant from Guinea, who gave his age as 16.
