THREE hundred French riot police were accused of "stupid and scandalous" behaviour after they staged a dawn raid to remove 10 hunger striking immigrants from a Paris church, only see the demonstrators return in afternoon, augmented in number.
Mr Stephane Hessel, a spokesman for 300 immigrants who are fighting expulsion from France by occupying Saint Bernard parish church, said the French interior minister, Mr Jean Louis Debre, had chosen a policy of "fait accompli over negotiation".
The Saint Bernard occupation which began more than five weeks ago, is the latest in a series of protests by immigrants whose residence rights have become unclear as a result of successive legal changes. Some have lived in France for more than 10 years on renewable permits and have children who were born here.
The Saint Bernard demonstrators - 10 of whom went on hunger strike on July 4th - are mostly from Mali, the Ivory Coast and Senegal. Their protest began in March when they occupied another church, SaintAmbroise, in central Paris.
After police cleared SaintAmbroise, 62 of the immigrants were expelled from France but more than 200 were told that their cases would be individually reviewed. After a further 48 expulsions, the demonstrators began the Saint Bernard sit in, in the 18th district.
Last night, at least 200 Parisians answered Mr Hessel's call for a demonstration outside the Cathedral of Notre Dame. He also called for French people to fast today in support of the Saint Bernard hunger strikers.
As a further 12 of the remaining demonstrators in Saint Bernard began a hunger strike yesterday afternoon, at least five of those removed to hospitals in the dawn raid returned to the church to resume their protest.
Mr Hessel, a former ambassador and human rights campaigner, said: "The police are being ordered to apply policies which are not only scandalous but stupid because they do not solve any problems."
A local socialist deputy, Mr Daniel Vaillant, said: "The government has to understand that it will not resolve anything with a brutal and contemptuous attitude."
The protest comes as Mr Debre hardened his stance on immigration. Last week he announced that the interior ministry would charter three planes a month to remove illegal immigrants.
The conservative government's hardline stance on immigration, which is popular with the French, has been prompted by tears over growing electoral support for the extreme right anti immigrant National Front led by Mr JeanMarie Le Pen.
Since January 7,352 people have been deported, against 5,868 during the first half of last year.