Justice, seized by the town hall of Calais, ordered on Thursday migrants living under several bridges to leave without delay, otherwise the town hall may ask the police to expel them, according to a judgment consulted by AFP.
The summary judge of the administrative court of Lille estimated that the evacuation of the premises, where “around 80 tents are installed in particularly degraded safety and health conditions”, presents “an emergency and usefulness” in because of the "serious and immediate risks" to which migrants are exposed "in the absence of any health structure, and" taking into account the imperatives of public safety, tranquility and sanitation ".
The court also judges that "it is common ground that the State has planned in November 2020 and is implementing in Calais a humanitarian system in favor of the migrant population, guaranteeing shelter, specific support for unaccompanied minors, access to care and health facilities, as well as the distribution of meals ”.
“Under these conditions, the municipality's request does not come up against any serious challenge,” he wrote.
This is refuted by associations helping migrants living on the coast in the hope of reaching England, by getting into trucks or crossing the Channel on small boats.
"No truce at Christmas"
"While Calais lights up and offers its inhabitants the opportunity to celebrate the end of the year holidays, there will be no truce at Christmas for several hundred exiled people living under the bridges of the city", " including children ”, were offended Wednesday eleven associations in a joint statement, before the hearing.
"Faced with the brutal evictions from places of life which have followed one another in recent months, faced with the installation of fences or the deforestation of entire areas of the city in order to prevent any settling, many people have been forced to take refuge under the bridges ”, they analyze, acknowledging that their situation there“ is unworthy ”.
"However, we know that no forced evictions, fencing, deforestation or coercive measures will not restore any dignity", she argues, pleading for "sheltering based on voluntary service, full information of exiled people or even a social diagnosis making it possible to understand the situation of people and therefore to offer them an adapted solution ”.
