Paris, May 30 (IANS): The French police on Wednesday cleared the largest migrant camp in Paris, which housed more than 1,500 people, in what was the 34th operation of its kind in the city since June 2015.

The operation began early morning. The immigrants, mostly Africans, had for months been settling in tents around the peripheral motorways surrounding Paris next to the Canal Saint-Denis, Efe news reported.

The immigrants were set to be relocated in some 20 shelters in the region, according to the Interior Ministry. It said that the police would use all necessary measures to prevent such camps from being set up again.

Most of the immigrants boarded the buses provided by the authorities. The broadcaster France Info reported that some of them decided to move to other camps in two different parts of the city.

Wednesday's evacuation followed weeks of controversy involving Interior Minister Gerard Collomb and the local authorities in Paris, led by Mayor Anne Hidalgo, over sharing responsibilities for these operations and the situation of the immigrants.