Cravesy News: Controversial Oranienplatz Berlin Refugee Camp Demolished

A controversial refugee camp in Berlin has been dismantled after most of the residents agreed to a deal with city authorities to move to a hostel.

Not all of the refugees agreed to the deal, and while some said they will go elsewhere, some insisted they would stay, despite a city order to vacate.

Riot police discuss the eviction operationSean Gallup/Getty Images

Riot police watched as some residents gathered their belongings and tore down their huts. The makeshift homes were then demolished by city workers using bulldozers.

The camp at Oranienplatz in the Kreuzberg district of east Berlin, was set up in 2012 by a group of asylum seekers. Most had arrived in Europe after travelling from Libya to the Italian island of Lampedusa.

The camp was home to more than 200 refugees, some of whom had been living at Oranienplatz for a year.

A scuffle breaks out between refugees who disagreed over a deal with city authorities to move to a new shelterSean Gallup/Getty Images

Riot police confront protesters at the former temporary refugee campSean Gallup/Getty Images

Riot police carry away protesters who intervened at the former temporary refugee campSean Gallup/Getty Images

Riot police carry away a protester at a former temporary refugee camp at Oranienplatz in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin, Germany. Several hundred riot police sealed off the square after, according to an eyewitness, violence broke out between refugees who had accepted a deal by the city to leave the camp and a small number who insisted on stayingGetty

Riot police occupy the site of the former temporary refugee campSean Gallup/Getty Images

Refugees from Ghana who have not agreed to the deal with city authorities stand by their hutSean Gallup/Getty Images

A refugee from Ghana who came to Germany via Libya and Lampedusa, and who has agreed to a deal with city authorities to move to a new shelter, stands by as huts are demolishedSean Gallup/Getty Images