Tents set up by homeless people in central Paris in front of the famed Hôtel de Ville on Thursday (October 28) have been quickly removed by the authorities.

Around 250 homeless people, many of them migrants, had attempted to set up tents to "occupy" the square in front of the town hall and raise awareness.

French organisation Utopia 56, formed in November 2015 in Brittany to oversee volunteer actions in Calais' notorious Jungle migrant encampment, posted on Twitter with a video: "The tents bought and distributed by our association to families on the street are stolen and taken away by the police."

Installation of a camp for 200 exiles in the streets on Place de l'Hotel de Ville in #Paris. Fairly quickly, the tents provided by the association @ Utopia_56 were taken from families by the security forces. 28oct2021