French police detain 114 in swoop on illegal immigrant slum
Expatica News
13/02/2008 00:00
Police raided a migrants' hostel in Paris on Tuesday, detaining 105 suspected illegal immigrants and nine people accused of housing them in sub-standard conditions
PARIS, Feb 13, 2008 – French police raided a migrants' hostel in
Paris on Tuesday, detaining 105 suspected illegal immigrants and nine people accused of housing them in sub-standard conditions, a judicial official said.
Some 400 officers were deployed to shut down the shelter in Paris' southern 13th district, whose occupants were mostly immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa, on the orders of a judge, according to the Paris police department.
Investigators suspect a network of charging migrants extortionate rates for slum-like accommodation, with twice the authorised number of tenants to a room.
A group of left-wing candidates for the March municipal elections in Paris issued a statement condemning the “police roundup”, accusing them of bashing down the hostel's doors and demanding the “prisoners' release.”
President Nicolas Sarkozy's government has led a tightening of immigration rules, setting an annual deportation quota of 25,000 illegal immigrants — a policy fiercely contested by the left-wing opposition.
AFP
