Migrants clash with police at Rome's Piazza Indipendenza

Italian police arrived at Piazza Indipendenza near Rome's central Termini station early Thursday morning to clear the area of migrant squatters. Around 100 migrants from Eritrea and Ethiopia had been camping out on the street since Saturday after being evicted from a nearby building.

Police used water cannons and batons as refugees were trying to strike at the officers using sticks and stones. In a statement, police said the refugees also had gas canisters, some of which they had opened, and that officers had been hit by rocks, bottles and pepper spray. Two people were arrested.

Doctors Without Borders said in a statement that 13 refugees had been injured. Amnesty International criticised the authorities' use of force. "The reaction of the police, both in the ways and the means used, seems completely disproportionate and unacceptable," said Gianni Rufini, director-general of Amnesty International Italy.

Following the evacuation, a group moved to a sidewalk next to Termini train station and later marched as a group, blocking streets around the station. They chanted slogans like, "We're refugees, not terrorists" and "Shame on Italy." The group then stopped in a small park near Piazza della Repubblica, but fled and dispersed after police arrived on the scene.

"We were woken up by the water of the hydrants," said one of the evicted women. "They took some of us by our hair, even hitting with batons. It's absurd - we're political refugees, we have legal documents," she said. Most of the refugees had been living in the evicted building since 2013."We've slept on the street for five nights. We only want a home," another woman said.

The eviction raised a storm of political controversy, particularly against Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi, who belongs to the 5-Star Movement (M5S). The regional administration and the national government led by the Democratic Party were also criticized. Meanwhile, the center-right applauded the actions taken by the authorities.

The clashes are the latest example of tensions in Italy as the country is shouldering the lion's share of migrants in Europe. More than 97,000 migrants have arrived since the beginning of the year.