One tent, two three ... Seven today, this Saturday.
And duvets.
Under the metal girders of the aerial metro, boulevard de la Chapelle (Xe), migrants have started to resettle, since December 24, in this place that has become emblematic of the migration crisis in Paris.
Because it is here, in the summer of 2014, that the first migrant camps appeared.
And remained, in general indifference, for very long months.
The neighborhood remembers it.
The residents have not forgotten the many appeals for help launched at that time, which often went unheeded.
A period that is inscribed in Parisian history as the beginnings of the endless migratory wave, punctuated by evacuations and reconstitutions of camps.
An infernal mechanism, which has been repeating itself for more than five years now.
Finally, in June 2015, the “mini-Sangatte” of the Chapel had been evacuated.
Nearly 400 people, mostly from East Africa, and many simply in transit in Paris, had been received in different centers.
The Parisians did not yet know it, but it was to be the prelude to an endless series of evacuations, followed by reconstitutions of camps.
“Seeing the tents set up on the boulevard again is heartbreaking,” a local resident alarmed.
As if history was repeating itself over and over again.
We talked about it yesterday (Editor's note: Friday) with my neighbors: everyone is convinced that the exiles will flow in, and that, in a few days, they will be dozens.
Then, much more.
The scenario is known: we wait for hundreds of people to gather before intervening.
It is hopeless ".
Since the last evacuation to date, the 66th since 2015, on November 17, in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis), the situation has not improved.
Admittedly, the regional prefecture announced the sheltering of 3,038 people, but the associations which help the refugees agree that most of them have simply been dispersed.
And now roam the streets of Paris and in the inner suburbs.
Morning essentials newsletter
A tour of the news to start the day
Subscribe to the newsletterAll newsletters
The story of an eternal restart.
