The request came from the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin: the Prefecture of Police proceeded this Friday to the evacuation of drug addicts from the Jardins d'Eole and the Stalingrad district in Paris (18th and 19th arrondissements), plagued by "
nuisances particularly high
”for several months, according to a press release from Île de la Cité.
Read also Garden of Eole: could we group drug addicts in "closed centers" to treat them?
Near the rails of the Gare de l'Est, a large police force secured the operation, while buses took drug addicts on board to regroup them on land along the ring road, Porte de la Villette, 2 kilometers away. A restaurateur does not hide her joy at seeing the neighborhood freed from a problematic population, several women and children having been physically assaulted in recent months: "
we want to uncork the champagne
", she exclaims, while that another trader is more circumspect: "
they will come back, do not worry
“, He augurs, mentioning the existence of a reception center nearby which delivers syringes and crack-taking equipment.
Located rue Pajol, the CSIPA (addictology support and prevention care center) "
Sleep In
" is indeed a gathering place - different from the shooting room of the Lariboisière hospital - offering accommodation for emergency and “
solutions
” for drug users.
"
I would prefer a police station!"
», Concludes the trader.
Showdown between the town hall and the police headquarters
The operation is the culmination of a standoff with the Paris town hall, criticized several times for its lack of responsiveness on the subject. Anne Hidalgo had refused the evacuation in June, preferring to prevent crack users from entering the Jardins d'Eole, which had the effect of grouping them together in an adjacent street. The mayor declares "to
take note of the decision
", but her team seems divided. Nicolas Nordman, deputy in charge of security, recognizes "
a relief for the residents
", when other elected officials (David Belliard, Anne Souyris) criticize an operation "
irresponsible, without support strategy
".
The city of Paris pleads for the opening of many care centers, even shooting rooms, refusing any coercive solution or constraining hospitalization mechanisms.
"
It should be noted that the reception areas provided by the Paris city hall will not be operational for several weeks or even several months, no project having been submitted at this stage
", the prefecture responds in advance in its press release.
To read also "We do not want to become the new Stalingrad": the Parisians of the 20th arrondissement fear the opening of a new shooting room
It now remains to contain the foreseeable deterioration of the situation around the Porte de la Villette, on the border with Aubervilliers and Pantin (Seine-Saint-Denis). The sector was chosen because “
without residents in the immediate vicinity
”, but the first shops are only 200 meters away. On site, a restaurateur describes an already critical situation: "
we already had a lot of it, it will only make things worse
". His neighbor, owner of a butcher's shop for 35 years, already identifies "
attacks every day, between drug addicts and migrants
", and deplores that "
the politicians completely forget our security. They clean up when they come here to visit, and the same evening the problems came back
".
In a bistro, we describe an unlivable situation, with “
junkies who help themselves to customers' plates.
What will it be, with those that we are brought!
We are alarmed.
On the sidewalk, several men of sub-Saharan origin, most of them in rags, wander, in fact, alpaca passers-by.
Their objective: to collect by begging the sum of 5 euros, the price necessary for a dose of crack, because the dealers do not seem worried.
Aware of the challenges, the prefecture has announced to the neighborhood a device to secure the new place of life of drug addicts.
