France's biggest squat cleared
2006-08-17 23:55
Paris - Police cleared hundreds of people
from France's biggest squat, a former student hall of residence
near Paris, the interior ministry said on Thursday.
The Communist Party, which said 1 000 people were occupying
the building, denounced the move as part of what it called
French interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy's "determination" to
arrest immigrants on a large scale.
"This expulsion on a large scale marks a further step in the
violence and irresponsibility," it said in a statement.
The squatters in the town of Cachan had held demonstrations
demanding they be rehoused and that the illegal immigrants among
them be granted residency permits.
Of 508 people evicted from the building, 49 adults had been
arrested with a view to being sent back to their country of
origin, the interior ministry said.
"The building is now empty ... Its demolition will begin in
the coming days," the ministry said.
Fire hazard
The prefecture of the Val de Marne department said the
building, which has 300 bedrooms and had been occupied since
2001, had to be cleared because improvised electrical wiring
posed a fire hazard.
The Communist Party had said half the squatters were illegal
immigrants and 200 of them children. The prefecture said a court
had ruled in April 2004 that the squatters should leave.
Sarkozy has tightened immigration rules and decided to expel
thousands of illegal immigrants this year.
The prefecture said 350 hotel rooms had been set aside to
house 800 of the building's occupants.
The interior ministry
said 190 people had agreed to be put up in the hotel rooms.
Squatters with French papers would "be examined attentively
to allow, insofar as possible, their relocation in social
housing", the prefecture said.