French police have carried out identity checks on migrants and refugees sleeping rough in a camp in northern Paris and bulldozed dozens of tents, sparking anger in the city.

The operation started shortly after 8am on Monday and took humanitarian organisations by surprise. People considered eligible to apply for asylum were taken away by bus; others were threatened with expulsion. Many were scrambling to retrieve their few belongings as the clearing operation began.

The rough sleepers, many of them from Afghanistan, claimed they had no time to collect their belongings, including tents and sleeping bags, as riot police were drafted in to clear the area.

“We are human, not animals. We need help and you’re treating us like dogs,” one shouted at an officer. “We need homes, we need to be protected, not this,” said another.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Workers with the remains of the camp sections that were bulldozed. Photograph: Abenhaim/Sipa/Rex/Shutterstock

Houssam El Assimi, of the humanitarian organisation La Chapelle Debout, said: “This is a roundup. They are throwing people on to the streets … and taking others into detention.”



The group later condemned the operation and said people were being sent to unsuitable and insanitary accommodation while awaiting their fate.

In a statement, the group said: “The term ‘giving them shelter’ can sometimes mean institutional mistreatment, insalubrious lodgings, a lack of support from social, legal and health services.

“What’s more, it’s a complete waste of taxpayers’ money.”

The shanty town of tents and cardboard shelters under the arches of Stalingrad Métro bridge in northern Paris, not far from the Eurostar terminal at the Gare du Nord, is home to about 2,500 migrants and refugees, according to officials. Support groups claim the number exceeds 3,000.



At the weekend, the French president, François Hollande, vowed to evacuate the Stalingrad settlement, saying Paris had a “duty to receive” migrants and refugees.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Police stand in front of people during the clearance operation. Photograph: Xinhua/Rex/Shutterstock

The French authorities described Monday’s action as an “administrative control” before an eventual evacuation of the camp. No date for the dismantling of the ad-hoc settlement has been given. On Saturday, the prime minister, Manuel Valls, said it would happen in the coming week.

Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, wrote to the interior and housing ministers to stress the need for dismantling the Stalingrad camp and for accommodation to be found for its inhabitants. She described it as “a dramatic humanitarian and health issue”.

“The situation has become unacceptable, as much for the local population as for the migrants. We insist there is an absolute necessity to find shelter for these people,” she wrote.

“This method of waiting for the situation to reach crisis point before housing them has gone on for too long.”

It is the third time the French authorities have broken up the camp since January. Within weeks, people returned or new arrivals set up home under the Métro. Up to 80 new migrants and refugees are believed to turn up in the French capital every day.

Ian Brossat, a deputy mayor in the city, told France Télévisions: “This situation has become unacceptable and brings shame on our country. To see people in the streets, in these makeshift camps in the sixth biggest economic power in the world is clearly not acceptable.”

Asked whether the numbers had been boosted following the closure of the refugee camp at Calais, Brossat added: “It’s hard to say, but it doesn’t matter. It’s enough that they are there and it’s high time that the operation to find them shelter was carried out.”