French police have used tear gas on protesters as the officers evacuated migrants from a Paris school where they have been sheltering for the past few weeks.

At least 150 migrants had occupied the Jean Jaures school in northeast Paris while it was empty for renovation. Police arrived Wednesday to force them to move. Those inside the building barricaded the doors as the protesters sought to block entry from the outside.

Paris police chief Michel Cadot confirmed to the Associated Press that the officers had used tear gas to clear out the protesters in their way.

Cadot said the migrants are being moved to shelters and encouraged to apply for asylum.

Sharing the burden

Meanwhile, European Union countries may be made to pay fines if they refuse to accept a share of the migrants that have flooded into Europe seeking asylum.

A European Commission plan was made public Wednesday as ministers consider the new proposal, which must be approved by member countries and EU lawmakers before it could take effect.

Under current laws, migrants must apply for asylum in the countries in which they arrive, which has placed a heavy burden on Greece and Italy, where most migrants arrive when they travel by sea.

Turkey deal

Meanwhile, many European lawmakers have threatened to veto a proposal that would allow Turkish citizens to travel visa-free to Europe in return for Ankara cracking down on human smugglers and accommodating migrants on Turkish soil.

European Union figures show just over 26,000 refugees arrived on the Greek islands in March — less than half February’s total. EU officials say the deal with Ankara is working.

“If we did nothing, we will condemn Greece to become a huge, huge refugee camp with hundreds of thousands refugees stuck. That is what we needed to solve,” Frans Timmermans, the European Commission’s vice president said last week.

 

Turkey says it is on track to meet all the criteria laid down by Europe ahead of the June deadline — and insists it is a non-negotiable part of the migrant deal.

 

While right wing politicians look to benefit from fears of migration, some lawmakers in Brussels have threatened to try to block the deal with Turkey over human rights concerns.

 

Amnesty International accuses Ankara of forcefully returning hundreds of unregistered refugees back to Syria — and even of shooting Syrians trying to cross the border illegally.
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