This Tuesday, in the early morning, shortly after 6 a.m., the police evacuated the migrant camp set up for several months near the city center of Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin). The evacuation took place calmly and was completed around 7 a.m., according to AFP journalists.
Several police vehicles had taken up position, surrounding this camp located on a square on the edge of the hypercentre with warning tape. Under the lights of powerful spotlights installed by the police, a few dozen agents went from tent to tent to ask the migrants to leave the premises. They were evacuated in two buses.
Up to 200 people lived in this camp
Located since the end of May under the windows of the town hall, this wild camp has counted up to 200 people, many of whom have come from Eastern Europe. “45 people were taken care of by the State services and sheltered in a gymnasium for the purpose of examining their administrative situation and determining an appropriate accommodation solution”, indicated the prefecture in the morning.
The municipality, which said on Monday that it had reached the end of what it could do in terms of accommodation, had already opened a gymnasium in mid-September to shelter certain migrants.
This camp was at the center of several acrimonious exchanges between the environmentalist mayor of Strasbourg, Jeanne Barseghian, and the prefect, Josiane Chevalier. Monday, December 5, the city councilor EELV announced his decision to sue the state for its “failure” to shelter people on the street.