Poor rural migrants who have lived in Beijing’s high-end business district for decades serving snacks and noodles to office workers are among thousands who have been ordered to leave their homes as part of a city-wide campaign to force out “low-end” people.

The mass evictions have fuelled concerns that officials are pushing out the poor in a bid to gentrify Beijing’s smarter districts, and comes within a wider drive to decrease the city’s population.

Authorities ramped up evictions following a fire in the southern outskirts of Beijing last week, which killed 19 people who were mainly migrants.

Thousands have been forced to leave their homes near the site of the fire as officials seek to demolish ‘illegal structures’ over safety concerns.