Police evict young migrants occupying Paris theatre

Riot police have evicted young migrants who had occupied a Paris theatre for three months.

The Guardian reports that protesters who had gathered outside the Gaîté Lyrique on Tuesday (18 March) to attempt to stop the raid were forced back by officers using teargas and riot shields.

Léa Balage, an MP for Les Écologistes party who was present, said only a few of the occupiers were still inside the building when police arrived, with most of them of them leaving in the night.

The occupation of the theatre began on 10 December, after the venue hosted a free conference called “Reinventing the welcome for refugees in France”.

More than 250 African migrants attended the conference to hear talks by academics and senior Red Cross officials, later refusing to leave.

By the end of last month the theatre’s management counted a total of 446 occupants within the building, describing the situation as being “at a tipping point” due to “untenable overcrowding” that has resulted in “increasingly severe and frequent violence”.

David Robert, a spokesperson for the Gaîté Lyrique, said: “As a citizen I can’t be happy that it appears most of the youngsters will sleep in the street this evening.”

“We suffered this occupation but as a cultural and social organisation it was not our responsibility to put people in the street in the middle of winter amid subzero temperatures.”