People gather to support unaccompanied minors being evacuated from the Gaite Lyrique cultural center by police, in Paris, France, 18 March 2025. More than 300 undocumented and unaccompanied minor migrants have been occupying La Gaite Lyrique, a Parisian cultural venue closed to the public, since December 2024, while awaiting refuge from the Paris city hall or the state. On February 13, an interim relief judge at the administrative court ordered their evacuation from the site, owned by the city of Paris, within a month. The prefecture of Paris announced the eviction before March 18. EPA-EFE/CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON Officers began their operation shortly before 6 a.m. (0500 GMT) at the theatre, where hundreds of demonstrators had gathered to protest against the eviction.
Since December 10, the migrants, including many unaccompanied minors, had occupied the concert and arts venue as part of their demands for shelter, leading the Gaite Lyrique management to suspend its operations on December 17.
A large banner on the Gaite Lyrique read: "400 lives at risk, 80 jobs under threat."
"Shame, shame, shame to authorities who are at war with isolated minors," demonstrators chanted in front of the theatre in solidarity with the migrants, urging local authorities to provide sustainable housing to them rather than force them out.
Police briefly used tear gas at the start of their operation, but overall the evacuation proceeded without any major incidents or clashes.
"We had nowhere to go, we needed a shelter during the cold winter nights. So we had no choice but to occupy the Gaite Lyrique," said Dialo Aimmedou, who said he was 16 and arrived in France in October 2024.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo told France Inter radio on Tuesday that the evacuation had to be done, and that emergency housing had been offered to the migrants.
"At this stage this was the thing to do because the situation was becoming complicated, tense and dangerous inside," she said.
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Antony Paone, Editing by Andrew Heavens and Alex Richardson)