Humanitarian workers call them "ni-ni". These young isolated migrants, neither minors in the eyes of the administration, nor adults, do not have care adapted to their age. Since Tuesday, a hundred of them (almost all from West Africa) have been "housed" in a tented bubble camp stretching in the Jules-Ferry square in the heart of the 11th century.
Tents to alert
It was set up in a few minutes, overnight, by five humanitarian associations which follow these isolated minors. “It is a matter of making them visible and alerting them to the difficulty they have in getting their minority recognized. Result: many of them end up on the street, ”denounces Yann Manzi, from the association Utopia 56, partner of the operation.
“Street minors, whether they are migrants or not, must be taken care of by the departments (Editor's note: the City of Paris in the case of the capital) as part of social assistance for children. It's the law ! "Adds Caroline Douay, member of MSF who also organizes the camp.
Minors considered as adults
Problem: the evaluation system for unaccompanied foreign minors (Demie) resulted in numerous refusals to take care of young applicants whose minority is questioned. According to the associations, nearly 70% of young migrants who claim to be minors are considered to be of age by the administration after their situation review.
"It is a simple interview, often without an interpreter, sometimes very brief ... And the refusals are motivated by arguments as arbitrary as the degree of maturity which does not correspond to the declared age," recall activists. The system had been described as a "lottery" by the NGO Human Right Watch which had devoted a report on the subject in 2018.
“Unsuccessful” minors have the possibility of appealing to a juvenile judge. However, they cannot benefit from support during the examination of their file. Bakary is in this case. This big guy, who says he has been 17 for a few days, left Mali at 15 (to flee a mistreating uncle).
They expect real accommodation
After a journey that took him to Mauritania, Morocco and then Spain, the teenager arrived in Paris in October 2019. His birth certificate and his Malian papers in his pocket. "I showed them at the interview. But they didn't believe me. They told me you are not a minor, ”he explains, awaiting the outcome of the appeal that Médecin sans frontières helped him filed.
"All the young people who are in this camp are in the same case" summarize the associative activists decided to stay put until obtaining a "real" treatment of the file on isolated minors. “And not just shelters. We need real accommodation with a health, social and educational support system for these minors. We have the means. This concerns a few hundred young people at most, ”concludes one of them.
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At the entrance of the camp, the five organizing associations affixed panels to challenge passers-by. Tent designs topped with a simple message: "Isn't this a summer camp?" "
