French police dismantle Roma camp on Paris outskirts

Police cleared out one of France's biggest and oldest Roma camps on Thursday, dismantling a sprawling network of makeshift shelters next to a Paris-area highway under pouring rain.

The evacuation of around 200 people lasted about 2 1/2 hours, and after it was completed about 50 people milled about on the streets of La Corneuve, despite the town's promises to give them either urgent housing or hotel vouchers.

Hugues Besancenot, the secretary general of the Seine-Saint-Denis region northeast of Paris, said some 60 women, children and disabled camp residents received urgent housing, while the rest received hotel vouchers.

"They did nothing for us. They said there's no place for me," said Brindus Dan, who lived in the camp with his wife and three children, including a 6-month-old baby.

Residents had six months to prepare for the evacuation, ever since a court ordered the camp to shut last February. Police gave a final warning on Tuesday, Besancenot said.

It is estimated that thousands of Roma live in France, and face routine discrimination and evacuations. Their camps tend to lack water and electricity, and authorities often cite sanitary reasons for dismantling them.

In Thursday's action, police initially came through to tell residents to leave, and bulldozers arrived in mid-afternoon, according to Manon Fillonneau of the European Roma Rights Group, speaking from the site. Families quickly grabbed what belongings they could and gathered along a roadside or beneath the awning of a closed cafe under a steady rainfall.

Local authorities reserved 12 rooms for residents in extreme need, such as the very sick, she said, calling it not nearly enough with approximately 300 people being evacuated.

The mayor of La Courneuve wouldn't immediately comment on the evacuation.

Loic Gandais, whose association works with Roma elsewhere in the Paris region, said it's one of the largest and longest-lasting camps in France, housing 200-300 people for at least three years, mostly Roma from Eastern Europe who cycle through.

The Associated Press