France Shocked by Violent Police Operation to Dismantle Paris Refugee Camp

PARIS – Images of French police evacuating a makeshift refugee camp of about 450 people in the centre of Paris with violence and excessive force have gone viral in France, provoking widespread outrage.

In one video, a group of men are seen running quietly from police while lugging their belongings behind them, including sleeping bags and rucksacks, only to find themselves trapped by a blockade of officers who have been waiting for them.

One young man wearing white is caught by his coat and shoved around, struck with a baton and roughed up by a police officer before he manages to free himself. 

But while running away, another officer trips him deliberately, sending the terrified victim to the ground. 

“…this young man in white is looking for an exit and poses no threat. Pushed back violently then mowed down by a police officer,” wrote radio journalist Remi Ink of RMC Info, who filmed the scene.

Reactions to the videos were swift, with France’s interior minister Gérald Darmanin describing the images as “shocking” and calling for an investigation into the matter.

But for French journalists, human rights and civil liberties activists, Darmanin’s statement is at complete odds with his push to make it a criminal offence to publish images of police officers with malicious intent. The article is part of a larger global security law that was passed in the National Assembly late Tuesday and will head next to the Senate. The offence would carry a maximum penalty of up to one year in prison and a 45,000-euro fine (around £40,000).

Darmanin says the legislation is meant to protect police officers and their families from being identified and targeted via social media. 

Over the last few weeks, protesters in cities across France have taken to the streets to denounce the global security bill and its potential to violate freedom of the press.

“While the risk of journalists being convicted on the basis of its provisions might be limited, the police could easily use it to arrest journalists who were filming them in the field and this would restrict the right to inform,” Reporters without Borders said.

While covering a protest against the bill in Paris on the 17th of November, a journalist from France3 was kept overnight in police custody despite showing his press card.

The bill could also be used by prosecutors to search a journalist’s home, office, emails and social media accounts for comments critical of the police in order to prove intent to harm, and secure a conviction, Reporters Without Borders said.

During a press briefing on Monday, the European Commission weighed in on the matter, underscoring the importance of safeguarding the freedom of the press particularly in times of crisis.

“It is more important than ever…that journalists be able to do their work freely and in full security,” said spokesperson Christian Wigand.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the United Nations has likewise voiced their opposition to the proposal for its potential to violate human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of expression.

French journalist Remy Buisine of BrutOfficiel said he was assaulted three times by the same police officer while covering Monday night’s events, first in a chokehold, then shoved to the ground. Fellow journalists captured the incidents on camera, showing Buisine defenceless on the ground pleading with the officer to stop kicking him.

“Yesterday was another example that filming and recording police and sharing them on social media is really important. If this law were passed, a lot of people would never have heard about what happened yesterday,” said Mael De Marcellus, spokesperson for Utopia56, one of the migrant aid groups that brought the refugees to Place de la République on Monday to highlight their plight. 

The 450 people were mostly young men from Afghanistan, who were left behind after an operation that took place on the 17th of November in Saint-Denis, a suburb north of Paris, where 2,000 migrants and asylum seekers were shuttled to reception and accommodation centres. 

“We saw people thrown from their tents, people getting kicked by police, police using tear gas and rubber bullets,” De Marcellus told VICE World News.

“They were totally pacifist. The only violence came from police. Last night was the most violent incident we’ve seen in Paris for years.”

Since last week’s police operation the remaining refugees have been on the run from police, chased with tear gas and batons every night. They’re exhausted, angry and terrified De Marcellus said.

“They don’t understand why police behave like this, why they are not treated like humans in France,” he said. “They arrive in France with all these ideas and then realise that France is not a land of freedom. It’s a land where they’re treated like animals. They don’t understand why police are acting like this.”

This article has been updated to clarify a translation of a tweet written in French.