Paris to get first refugee shelter

The emergency shelter for men would be located on an old railway site in the north of the French capital, Hidalgo told a press conference on Wednesday.

She said the asylum-seekers would be able to stay at the camp for "five to ten days" while waiting for a place in a refugee hostel and would receive medical and psychological care.

A second reception center for women and children only would be established in a former factory in Ivry-sur-Seine to the southeast of Paris by the end of the year, she said.

"We must come up with new strategies for coping with the current situation, which is has reached saturation point," she said, adding: "This refugee center is in keeping with our values (...) We are acting with humanity."

The men's shelter would initially have room for 400 people, with capacity increasing to 600 by the end of the year, she said. The camp for "vulnerable people" will accommodate 350.

French authorities say some 15,000 migrants have been taken in from the streets and parks in Paris and accommodated in improvised shelters since June 2015.

Growing problem

The shelters aim to replace the makeshift camps that have been springing up around the French capital. Police dismantled yet another one housing several hundred people in northern Paris on Tuesday morning.

The Paris camp will cost 6.5 million euros ($7.2 million), Hidalgo said, with the city paying 80 percent of construction costs and 50 percent of the operating expenses of 1.2 million euros per year.

Hidalgo emphasized that the sites were "temporary," but said the city would set up further centers "if necessary."

Paris has seen a growing number of migrants passing through over the past year as Europe continues to struggle with the greatest migratory movement since the Second World War.

Many who come to Paris are on their way to the port of the Calais, where they hope to reach Britain by stowing away on a UK-bound truck.

On Monday, dozens of truckers and farmers blocked roads to and from Calais to call for the closure of the sprawling migrant camp that has grown up there, known as the "Jungle."

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve promised last week to shut the camp "as quickly as possible," but said it would be done only gradually.

tj/jil (AFP, Reuters)