French Police Move 700 Migrants from an Abandoned Paris High School

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Police in Paris have moved around 700 migrants from an abandoned high school in the north of the French capital. The operation began at 6 AM Friday and proceeded peacefully.

There was a heavy police presence outside the Jean-Quarré high school in the early hours of Friday, with police barring journalists from accessing the building.

Migrants — many of them from Sudan, Eritrea, and Afghanistan — found out about the move on Thursday, and several were waiting outside the building with their belongings when the police showed up.

Police officers entered the building to remove those who were still occupying the classrooms of the former vocational hospitality high school. Many of the migrants have been asking to be rehoused, citing safety concerns and the poor living conditions inside the facility.

Évacuation ce matin du lycée Jean Quarré a — CAMILLE GHARBI (@camille_gharbi)October 23, 2015

Evacuation of the Jean Quarré high school in Paris this morning.

The school — a four-story building that was built in the 1970s — has been used as a shelter since July 31. But the migrants who sought refuge in the building have been living in precarious conditions, with classrooms hastily converted into dormitories. In August, a local official warned of the presence of asbestos in the building.

Migrant rights activists and charity workers gathered outside the high school Friday, handing out breakfast to migrants as they boarded the 26 buses chartered by the city to take them to other shelters.

District Prefect Jean-François Carenco was also on site to witness the start of the move, arguing the relocation of migrants was "a humanitarian emergency." The prefect announced that all 700 migrants would be rehoused, but did not say where migrants were being taken to.

On September 26, the Paris administrative court had ordered the evacuation of the high school and given migrants a month to leave the premises.

Fighting had recently broken out in the makeshift high school camp, which was being run by a group of volunteers. On October 16, six people were injured after they were beaten with an iron bar during a fight at the school.

The relocation of migrants from the high school follows a string of high-profile relocations in Paris over the last few months — including the use of riot police to violently dismantle a makeshift camp on rue Pajol in Paris' 18th arrondissement in June, and other, more peaceful dispersals in the La Chapelle area in June and in September near the Austerlitz train station.

The authorities had been criticized for their handling of earlier migrant housing locations in the capital, with many arguing that the city had provided inadequate rehousing options for migrants.

Follow Lucie Aubourg: @LucieAbrg