Police Evacuate Migrant Camp Near Paris Subway Station

PARIS— Police evacuated nearly 1,000 migrants Wednesday from a makeshift camp near a Paris subway station, and hundreds of people sought to cross from Turkey to Greece despite European efforts to slow down the arrivals.The Paris operation was peacefu...
Police Evacuate Migrant Camp Near Paris Subway Station
A migrant, right, is checked by crew members on the German combat supply ship "Frankfurt am Main" after being rescued during EUNAVFOR MED Operation Sophia in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya Tuesday, March 29, 2016. AP Photo/Matthias Schrader
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PARIS—Police evacuated nearly 1,000 migrants Wednesday from a makeshift camp near a Paris subway station, and hundreds of people sought to cross from Turkey to Greece despite European efforts to slow down the arrivals.

The Paris operation was peaceful and authorities offered the migrants temporary lodging and help applying for asylum, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. They reportedly included people from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and Afghanistan who had been living beneath elevated train tracks for the past several weeks.

The Paris transit authority closed the Stalingrad metro station during the operation. The area has seen multiple migrant camps in recent years that are periodically cleared out.

“The street should not be a refuge” for people fleeing persecution, the ministry said, calling the evacuation necessary for public order, public health and humanitarian reasons.

Rescued migrants sit in a German Navy boat besides Finish Special Forces prior to board the German combat supply ship "Frankfurt am Main" during EUNAVFOR MED Operation Sophia in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya Tuesday, March 29, 2016. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Rescued migrants sit in a German Navy boat besides Finish Special Forces prior to board the German combat supply ship "Frankfurt am Main" during EUNAVFOR MED Operation Sophia in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya Tuesday, March 29, 2016. AP Photo/Matthias Schrader