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By Staff, Agencies French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin on Tuesday said he was launching a probe into clashes that broke out late Monday after police cleared out a new migrant camp at Place de la République in the heart of Paris, adding that images of the scuffles were "shocking". People posted photos and videos on social media of police hitting demonstrators as they moved in to clear the square of migrants' tents, which the police said had been set up without official permission.

"Some of the images of the dispersion of the illegal migrant camp at Place de la République are shocking," Darmanin wrote on Twitter in the early hours of Tuesday, adding that he was seeking a full report into the incident.

The migrant camp at the iconic Place de la République, site of major French demonstrations, emerged just a week after police had cleared out a bigger, illegal migrant campsite near the national sports stadium on the outskirts of the French capital.

Police used tear gas as they dismantled the new migrant camp of around 500 blue tents, which were set up by volunteers and were quickly filled by migrants, mostly Afghans.

When the police arrived to dismantle the camp, images showed officers picking up tents, sometimes with people still inside, to the protests of migrants and jeers from volunteers.

"They are too violent," sobbed Shahbuddin, a 34-year-old Afghan as he put a grey beanie back on his head after being forced out of his tent.

"We just want a roof." Police later used tear gas to disperse the rest of the camp, driving the migrants out into the streets of central Paris

Original Article Source: Al Ahed News | Published on Tuesday, 24 November 2020 10:25 (about 1220 days ago)