Police clear out a migrant camp in central Paris. Activists say it's a pre-Olympics sweep

PARIS (AP) — French police evicted migrants from a makeshift camp in Paris a few steps away from the River Seine on Tuesday, the latest operation in what aid groups call a campaign of ‘’social cleansing'' ahead of the Summer Olympics.

Before dawn on an unusually cold April morning, around 30 teenage boys and young men from West Africa were awakened by police and urged to pack their tents and belongings. Most of them were underage and in the process of seeking residency papers.

"I was already scared but I am even more scared because I don’t know where to go,” said Boubacar Traoré, 16, who said he fled conflict in Burkina Faso, arriving in France two months ago.

The operation came days after police carried out a large-scale eviction at France’s biggest squatter camp in a suburb south of Paris.

Such evictions and evacuations of migrant tent camps happen every spring after the end of a winter ‘’truce'' during which authorities put such actions on hold.

But aid groups working with migrants and other vulnerable people in the Paris region say these efforts are intensifying ahead of the Olympics. They note that people are being sent far away from the capital instead of being offered shelter in the Paris region, where many asylum-seekers have upcoming court dates.

“The authorities want to have a clean place for the Olympics Games. They don’t want the tourists to see Paris as a city full of migrants and asylum seekers,” Elias Hufnagel, a volunteer with a group serving refugees and immigrants, said at the Paris tent camp Tuesday.

Paris police said the operation was carried out for security reasons, notably because the tent camp was near schools.

In a nearby street stood two large buses heading to Besançon, 400 kilometers (240 miles) southeast of Paris. Authorities proposed to relocate the young men there and offered them housing for three weeks. But most didn’t want to take up that offer, fearing being even more isolated and with no plan after the three weeks run out.

Traoré was among those who refused to travel because he is awaiting a court date in Paris in two days. It was unclear where he would sleep Tuesday night.

A migrant packs his belongings in a makeshift camp, early Tuesday, April 23, 2024 in Paris. French police officers have evicted migrants from a makeshift camp in Paris a few steps away from the Seine River, as similar operations have been carried out by authorities ahead of the Olympics. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga)

Migrants leave a makeshift camp after being evicted by police officers, early Tuesday April 23, 2024 in Paris. French police officers have evicted migrants from a makeshift camp in Paris a few steps away from the Seine River, as similar operations have been carried out by authorities ahead of the Olympics. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga)

A migrant packs his belongings in a makeshift camp, early Tuesday, April 23, 2024 in Paris. French police officers have evicted migrants from a makeshift camp in Paris a few steps away from the Seine River, as similar operations have been carried out by authorities ahead of the Olympics. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga)

Activists help migrants to pack their belongings in a makeshift camp, early Tuesday, April 23, 2024 in Paris. French police officers have evicted migrants from a makeshift camp in Paris a few steps away from the Seine River, as similar operations have been carried out by authorities ahead of the Olympics. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga)

A police officers checks a migrant's tent in a makeshift camp, early Tuesday, April 23, 2024 in Paris. French police officers have evicted migrants from a makeshift camp in Paris a few steps away from the Seine River, as similar operations have been carried out by authorities ahead of the Olympics. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga)

Activists help migrants to pack their belongings in a makeshift camp, early Tuesday, April 23, 2024 in Paris. French police officers have evicted migrants from a makeshift camp in Paris a few steps away from the Seine River, as similar operations have been carried out by authorities ahead of the Olympics. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga)

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Friday set a July primary and a September general election to fill the Newark-based U.S. House seat that opened after Rep. Donald Payne Jr.'s recent death.

Murphy signed a writ of election, required under state law. The July 16 primary will be about a month after the state's regularly scheduled June 4 contest, followed by the general election Sept. 18.

The special election will determine who serves out the remainder of Payne's term, which ends Jan. 3, 2025, while the regular election process held in parallel will be for who fills the seat after that.

It's not yet clear who will be running in the heavily Democratic and majority-Black district, which is unlikely to flip as registered Republicans are outnumbered by more than 6 to 1.

Payne had already filed paperwork to run for reelection this year and is set to appear uncontested on the ballot for the regular June 4 primary. Should he win the nomination, Democratic Party committee members in his district could choose a replacement to run in the November general election.

Payne, who died April 24 of a heart attack connected to complications from diabetes, served in the House since 2012.

He succeeded his father, Donald Milford Payne, who held the seat for two decades and also died while he was a sitting congressman.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy speaks during the Celebration of the Life of Donald M. Payne, Jr. at Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, NJ on Thursday, May 2, 2024. (Ed Murray/NJ Advance Media via AP)

FILE - Donald Payne Jr. stands during the funeral of his father, New Jersey Congressman Donald Payne, in Newark, N.J., March 13, 2012. Payne Jr. of New Jersey died Wednesday, April 24, 2024, officials said, after suffering a heart attack earlier this month that had left him hospitalized. He was 65. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

FILE - Rep. Donald Payne Jr., D-N.J., poses for a ceremonial photo in the Rayburn Room of the Capitol after the new 113th Congress convened, Jan. 3, 2013, in Washington. Payne Jr. of New Jersey died Wednesday, April 24, 2024, officials said, after suffering a heart attack earlier this month that had left him hospitalized. He was 65. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)