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The mayor of Clichy-sous-Bois launches a "call for help" on the social divide in the districts

2020-05-03T05:23:27.135Z


Olivier Klein (DG), mayor of Clichy-sous-Bois in Seine-Saint-Denis, pleads for a doubling of the back-to-school bonus and a moratorium


Teacher by profession and native of Chêne-Pointu, the district which served as the backdrop for the film "Les Misérables", Olivier Klein (various left), mayor, re-elected in the first round, of Clichy-sous-Bois, alert to a widening of the inequalities among poor families in neighborhoods facing the crisis.

Is containment less respected in neighborhoods?

OLIVIER KLEIN . No, our families are heroic, they respect confinement well. As everywhere, there are difficulties because it is not easy for a large family to remain confined in an unsanitary accommodation in Chêne-Pointu. My city is one of the youngest in France and I haven't seen a child on the street in six weeks. As President of Anru (Editor's note: National Agency for Urban Renewal) , I note that confinement has been even better respected in the districts which have benefited from a renovation. The lesson is that public action on housing must be even faster.

Have you noticed the school dropout of children?

I saw panicked moms who came to the town hall asking me to make photocopies, or showing me a text or email from a teacher. It is said that 8 to 10% of families have dropped out nationwide, it is much more in our neighborhoods. A child shouldn't have to do homework on their parents' phone screen! There is a digital divide. I fight so that each child of Clichy-sous-Bois who enters CM1 has a computer for the next school year. We recovered a hundred from the BNP foundation, I had the boss of Microsoft France who will offer 300, and the state mobilized. But that is not enough, because many families do not have Internet access. I therefore call on the major operators to obtain keys or 3G or 4G routers.

Will exceptional state aid for families be enough?

It was essential, but it is not enough. Families in my city are very worried that they will not be able to eat their children normally. The canteens in Clichy, it's € 1 for the most modest, and we all know that it's more at home. There are twice as many families asking for help from the CCAS (Editor's note: Communal Center for Social Action) and we saw very large queues during the food aid distributions from Restos du Coeur or AC le feu. . It made me angry.

This is why I wanted to launch this call for help. It's urgent ! Do not hide behind our little finger, there are also families who lived odd jobs, black. Every morning, I see hundreds of women who leave by bus for Paris to clean up. They are daily, in interim boxes. Are they entitled to unemployment? When the money doesn't come in at the end of the week, it's a disaster.

Do you fear a worsening social divide in neighborhoods?

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The government has doubled Anru's budget, but more must be done otherwise this social and territorial divide will widen. We have no right to leave the 5 million inhabitants of working-class neighborhoods at the gates of the Republic. Beyond the exceptional aid already provided, I plead for a doubling of the back-to-school bonus and a one-year moratorium on rental evictions. I also favored a suspension of rents for two months. Let's not add a sword of Damocles to the people of these neighborhoods.

Seine-Saint-Denis has been hit by an excess mortality from Covid-19…

First there is a non-use of care. Contrary to popular belief, there are no profiteers in our cities. Many families in Clichy-sous-Bois do not have a doctor and called on the 15th too late when they had symptoms. Precariousness also induces comorbidities: we have a lot of diabetics, obesity cases, high blood pressure. When such a crisis strikes such a fragile territory, everything accelerates given poverty and overcrowding. Lessons will need to be learned about access to care, with, why not, a return from the dispensaries.

How do you explain the clashes at Gennevilliers or Villeneuve-la-Garenne?

Because we're close to breaking up. We are facing a pressure cooker, a powder magazine that can explode at the slightest spark. I know the fragility of these neighborhoods - I have lived there since I was born - I also know their capacity for resilience. I understand anger, sometimes I share it, but I do not accept violence.

Source: leparis

All news articles on 2020-05-03

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