Police evict migrants from Paris theatre after months-long occupation

French police on Tuesday evacuated hundreds of young migrants from the historic Gaîté Lyrique theatre in central Paris - a venue they had occupied as part of a protest since December.

Shortly before 6:00 am (0500 GMT) members of the anti-riot CRS police forced their way through cordons that activists had formed to prevent them from entering the Gaîté Lyrique theatre, according to reporters from French news agency AFP.

There was chaos as police forced their way into the 19th-century theatre, which is famous for performances of opera, operetta and ballet.

The occupation of the Gaîté Lyrique began on 10 December with around 200 young migrants demanding food and shelter.

The theatre cancelled all planned performances a week later, saying it condemned the occupation but also "the inaction by authorities".

Many protesters are underage and have asked to be treated as such in their immigration process.

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'Extremely violent'

On Tuesday, reporters from the French news agency AFP say they saw some migrants leaving the building carrying personal belongings, with several suitcases and bags left abandoned on the pavement.

Danielle Simonnet, a leftist lawmaker on site to protest against the police action, called it "extremely violent", telling AFP that officers had "hit and beaten" the migrants, who she said were behaving "peacefully".

Migrant support organisations such as Utopia 56 and the Collectif Accès au Droit (Access to Law Collective) confirmed these reports, saying police used tear gas and batons.

For the past three months, the protest has became a standoff between left-wing activists fighting for migrant rights, and the far right calling for their expulsion.

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'Threat to public order'

Demonstrators and migrants chanted slogans such as "we are all the children of migrants" as they were surrounded by police in riot gear.

The eviction came a day after Paris police prefect Laurent Nunez gave the order to clear the building, occupied by up to 450 migrants, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa.

Nunez called the occupation of the theatre a threat to "public order". He promised that the young migrants would be offered shelter, and that their legal situation would be looked at.

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According to France Info, the prefecture offered them housing options outside Paris, particularly in Rouen. Most of them refused.

Agents working for the Paris region's emergency shelter services were on site and talking to migrants, an AFP reporter said.

"I need to go to class at 10:00 am today," said Adama, who said he was 15 and from Côte d'Ivoire. "I don't know what to tell my teacher. I need to leave a message saying that I won't make it."

He added, "We haven't killed anybody, we don't steal. We came here to become integrated."

At the end of February, more than 300 cultural, political and civil society actors signed a petition calling on authorities to find a housing solution for the young people to allow the venue to resume its cultural activities.

(with AFP)