The operation was aimed at obtaining “dignified and lasting” hosting solutions, but it was indeed a temporary solution that was found this Friday morning.
The day after the installation in Place des Vosges of some 600 people, mostly homeless and migrants, who had pitched their tents there early Thursday afternoon with the support of aid and law collectives in housing, the Paris town hall announced that three spaces would be able to accommodate them.
"The homeless will be sent back to two gymnasiums and the Paris Event Center", an exhibition hall in La Villette transformed into an emergency reception structure, explained Léa Filoche, assistant to the town hall in charge of solidarity.
"From the end of the morning", a social diagnosis must also be established by the association France Terre Asile with the 350 families, including more than 120 children present since Thursday on the very chic Place des Vosges in Paris (4th arrondissement).
"We are once again in an emergency situation," laments the deputy mayor PS of Paris, Anne Hidalgo.
"The state must find decent accommodation solutions, that's its job," she explained.
"We want to show another side of Paris"
In total, "around 600 people", according to figures communicated by the town hall, including "newcomers, people legally present in the territory, generally a very precarious public", were present Thursday evening. Breakfasts were distributed Friday morning by municipal services. These homeless people are supported by the “Collectif Réquisitions”, which asks the State for “dignified and lasting accommodation solutions”.
Thursday at 1 pm, in just a few minutes, 300 tents had been set up on the lawns of the Place des Vosges, divided into three areas "families", "single men" and "minors".
“We chose this place because it is a tourist place.
We want to show another side of Paris.
Make the invisible visible, also in upscale neighborhoods, ”explained Pierre Mathurin, coordinator of Utopia 56 Paris, one of the composite associations of the“ Collectif Réquisitions ”.
It is 10 p.m. Place des Vosges in #Paris, 600 people, including dozens of children, are getting ready to spend one more night in the street.
We are waiting for immediate accommodation solutions and the establishment of a real reception policy in order to get out of these unworthy situations.
pic.twitter.com/exVK7KLri9
- Utopia 56 (@ Utopia_56) July 29, 2021
"In view of the growing number of people who cannot find accommodation solutions, it must be made known", supported Léa Filoche.
