The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

School occupied by migrants in Paris: associations threaten to leave in the face of "state inaction"

2023-06-01T17:14:25.454Z

Highlights: Nearly 500 young migrants have been sleeping in a disused school in the sixteenth arrondissement for two months. Five toilets for nearly 500 people, no water, no electricity and no mattresses. Some young people "suffer from psychological or physical trauma, as well as many respiratory and dermatological diseases," warn associations. "Our goal is to put an end to their wandering but also to make this situation visible," insists Nikolai Posner, the communication officer of Utopia 56.


Nearly 500 young migrants have been sleeping in a disused school in the sixteenth arrondissement for two months. Associations denounce conditions


Five toilets for nearly 500 people, no water, no electricity and no mattresses. "We are in a humanitarian crisis situation in the sixteenth arrondissement of Paris and nobody cares," says Nikolai Posner, the communication officer of Utopia 56.

For nearly two months, Utopia 56 and three other associations have been accompanying several hundred young migrants in the occupation of a disused school on rue Erlanger (XVIth). "There were about 200 at the beginning of April, now there are 480," Posner said.

Recurrent "threats" from far-right movements

According to a statement issued on Thursday, the situation is getting worse. Some young people "suffer from psychological or physical trauma, as well as many respiratory and dermatological diseases," warn the associations. All this in an increasingly tense context, according to them, marked by "threats from far-right movements such as Reconquest, Nemesis and Les Natifs, which have gathered several times in front of the school".

" READ ALSO Paris: the disused school occupied by migrants target of the hatred of the far right

"Despite all these realities, 18 alert emails, a petition of more than 5,000 signatures and the solicitations of many deputies, neither the Ministry of the Interior, nor that of Housing or Child Protection wished to respond or intervene," continue the associations. As a result, they threaten to "withdraw in order to let the state assume its responsibilities". "If at some point we feel that we are no longer in control of the situation, we will have no other choice," agrees Nikolai Posner. Even if we obviously don't want to get there. »

Due to a lack of space on rue Erlanger, the association now also shelters a hundred young people in disused offices of the twentieth century, made available by a company on a transitional basis. All would have crossed the Mediterranean from Libya. They "survived on the street" since their arrival in the Paris region.

Young people who would have been for the most part recognized as adults in the first instance. And who would be waiting for a decision of the judge, following the appeals filed to have their minority recognized. "Our goal is to put an end to their wandering but also to make this situation visible," insists Nikolai Posner.

Source: leparis

All news articles on 2023-06-01

You may like

News/Politics 2024-03-23T00:33:31.698Z

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.