French riot cops clash with migrants as they FINALLY clear Paris theatre occupied by hundreds of homeless asylum seekers who were invited to a free show and stayed for weeks
French riot police clashed with migrants and their supporters today as they cleared a Paris theatre occupied by hundreds of homeless Africans.
Violence broke out outside the Gaîté Lyrique – one of the French capital’s most historic arts venues – soon after dawn on Tuesday morning.
Mainly young men have moved in since last December when the management gave them free tickets to a ‘Refugees Welcome in France’ conference.
Performances were soon cancelled – losing the theatre thousands in revenue – as makeshift beds were placed around the stage and auditorium.
Until today there were 446 people living inside illegally, most of them claiming they are minors under the age of 18 who deserve permanent housing.
CRS (Republican Security Companies) officers armed with tear gas and batons gathered outside the theatre at 5am on Tuesday, and then moved in at 6am.
‘There were immediate clashes with protesters who were shouting at them, and trying to stop them getting into the theatre,’ said a local resident who was at the scene.
‘Police responded with tear gas and baton charges, and there were some injuries.’
A handful of migrants stood outside the theatre as the police arrived with suitcases in hand.
Some 200 other agitators surrounded the theatre chanting ‘shame on this government that wages war on vulnerable people’.
A judge at the Paris Administrative Court ordered the evacuation of the building on February 13, but the council initially refused to involved the police
The number of migrants occupying the theatre rose to around 440 before it was raided
The 1800-seat building that houses the current Gaîté Lyrique was built in 1862 and became celebrated for staging operettas by Jacques Offenbach
French police enter the Gaite Lyrique cultural center after evacuating unaccompanied minors from the site, in Paris, France, 18 March 2025
Migrants sit on the ground as people gather against police eviction of migrants from the Gaite Lyrique theatre after more than three months of their occupation, in Paris, France, March 18, 2025
People gather against police eviction of migrants from the Gaite Lyrique theatre after more than three months of their occupation, in Paris, France, March 18, 2025
Many of the migrants refused to board the bus laid on to take them there claiming they were settled in the capital.
One young man, Adama, from the Ivory Coast told the AFP news agency: ‘I am 15 years old. I need to go to class at 10am today.
‘I don’t know what to tell my teacher. I need to leave a message saying that I won’t make it.’
He added: ‘We haven’t killed anybody, we don’t steal. We came here to become integrated.’
Danièle Simonnet, a Left-wing Paris MP, attacked the ‘violent police intervention’ in a tweet published on X.
Law and order officials pledged action after those who run the theatre complained of ‘untenable promiscuity’ inside the theatre leading to increasing violence.
Management have already abandoned the building, because of fears about ‘fire safety, security, hygiene and cleanliness, maintenance, and waste collection.’
In a statement, they warned of an ‘explosive and undignified situation’ that was ‘increasing in severity’.
Beyond fights breaking out because of sexual tensions, migrants have been seen dealing and using drugs.
Staff have been acting as ‘on-site security guards, even though this is neither their skill set nor their job,’ says the statement.
Despite this, the statement said staff have also been ‘welcoming and sheltering the occupants’.
The theatre is owned by the City of Paris, which is dominated by Socialists and Greens.
Mainly young men have moved in since last December when the management gave them free tickets to a ‘Refugees Welcome in France ’ conference
Police clashed with protesters in the streets of Paris
Danièle Simonnet, a Left-wing Paris MP, attacked the ‘violent police intervention’ in a tweet published on X
Law and order officials pledged action after those who run the theatre complained of ‘untenable promiscuity’ inside the theatre
Management had already abandoned the building, because of fears about ‘fire safety, security, hygiene and cleanliness, maintenance, and waste collection’
Local businesses complained of losses due to the occupation
Violence broke out outside the Gaîté Lyrique – one of the French capital’s most historic arts venues – soon after dawn on Tuesday morning
A judge at the Paris Administrative Court ordered the evacuation of the building on February 13, but the council initially refused to involved the police.
The migrants were being supported by political activists even more Left-wing than the theatre’s management.
Calling themselves the Collectif des Jeunes du Parc de Belleville – after a Parisian park – they view the occupation as being part of the ‘anti-racist and anti-colonial struggle’.
But local businesses complained of losses due to the occupation.
The owner of the Bistrot de la Gaite restaurant, Elia Cordier, told MailOnline she is close to going bust and dared not speak out against the issue as she has received death threats from the anarchist agitators.
She told MailOnline: ‘This political stunt is ruining me. I am losing thousands of euros every day.
‘On a normal Saturday I would clear €2,500. Today I’ll be lucky if I make €200. If this carries on, I will be bankrupt within one or two months.’
Previously she told The Times how the anti-social behaviour of the migrants had ruined the area.
Ms Cordier said: ‘They hang around outside my terrace, smoking joints and fighting among themselves.
‘Not only do we no longer get theatregoers because the theatre is shut but we don’t get passers-by either. They’re being frightened away by all these young men.’
Other local businesses claim the usually tranquil park in front of the theatre has become a venue for drug dealing and other anti-social behaviour.
And local residents claim the occupation threatened the very essence of French culture.
‘What is happening here is putting French culture at risk,’ businessman David Bayard told MailOnline.
‘Paris is the centre of French culture. This theatre is important to French culture. We used to go to this theatre often. Now this occupation has taken that away from us.
‘There are hundreds of hotel rooms that are empty across Paris. Surely it is not too difficult to put these young people in them.’
His wife Tiffany, 39, added: ‘Why can’t the state find a safe place for these people to sleep. Closing down this theatre is an act of cultural sabotage.’
The bistrot next to the 19th-century venue, a popular spot for theatregoers to eat and drink before and after shows, has reported €30,000 in lost revenue so far.
The 1800-seat building that houses the current Gaîté Lyrique was built in 1862 and became celebrated for staging operettas by Jacques Offenbach, the German-born French composer, in the 19th Century.
CRS (Republican Security Companies) officers gathered outside the theatre at 5am on Tuesday, and then moved in at 6am
An isolated minor sitting on a chair and sleeping with his arms on a table during the occupation
Pictures from inside the theatre show people sleeping on tables in cramped conditions
On November 1, France reinforced its borders with six of its neighbouring Schengen members – Belgium, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain and Switzerland – with increased checks.
The controls were applied to travellers entering France via land, sea and air routes from all six nations and will last until April 1, 2025 – but authorities have said they could be extended further.
A French government statement declared the checks were introduced due to ‘serious threats to public policy, public order, and internal security posed by high-level terrorist activities… criminal networks facilitating irregular migration and smuggling, and migration flows that risk infiltration by radicalised individuals’.
