An ubiquitous situation. Several homeless people have been fined by the police in France because they did not respect the confinement instituted since Tuesday to fight against the spread of the coronavirus, the associations were indignant on Friday.
"We ask that clear instructions be sent to the prefects so that these sanctions stop immediately," said Florent Gueguen, director general of the Federation of Solidarity Actors (FAS), which brings together 800 associations fighting against poverty. Cases have been identified in particular in Paris, Lyon and Bayonne, specify the associations.
The prefecture of Lyon has already stated that these tickets, if they are proven after an internal investigation, will be "immediately canceled" because "contrary to the instructions", according to the newspaper Le Progrès. In Paris, "we made the prefecture aware of the problem," said Samusocial, which manages the 115 (emergency number for the homeless).
A few dozen contaminated homeless
According to the organization, these verbalizations penalize in the first place the families accommodated in social hotels, which have no other solution than to leave their room to eat. The associations also require permanent traffic authorizations for their employees, in particular those responsible for monitoring work in street teams or in marauders, from precarious workers.
The associations have repeatedly alerted the authorities to the difficulties for people on the street to respect this measure, as well as the precautionary principles to limit the risks of contamination. A few dozen homeless people are contaminated with Covid-19, according to the authorities.
VIDEO. The Parisian homeless face confinement: "It became Zombieland, it's ghost Paris"
For those who cannot be isolated in accommodation centers and whose condition does not require hospitalization, they will be accommodated in the coming days in dedicated centers, called "loosening".
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The Ministry of Housing also announced Thursday the requisition of rooms in hotels, to accommodate people still on the street. In Paris, nearly 200 rooms will be made available by the end of the week.