They ask to be housed in dignified conditions.
Around a hundred young migrants have occupied the Centquatre-Paris since Saturday, causing a partial closure of this cultural venue in the north of the capital, we learned from reliable sources on Sunday.
“More than 100 minors are present after having been expelled during the week from their camps on the banks of the Seine,” wrote the Marche des solidarités association on X.
They belong to a group of some 400 migrants dislodged last Wednesday from the banks of the Seine due to the risk of flooding, according to a prefectural decree.
A decision denounced by associations.
🔴OCCUPATION OF THE HUNDRED-FOUR TO REQUEST ACCOMMODATION FOR ISOLATED MINORS
Sunday March 10,
The youth collective of Belleville Park and the Paris 20th collective in solidarity with all migrants as well as supporters, have been present since yesterday noon at pic.twitter.com/ZAUnWsr9EU
— Marche des Solidarités (@MSolidarites) March 10, 2024
“They spent the night in deplorable conditions: without bed or blanket in a small remote room, without disturbing the show in progress, as agreed with the Paris town hall,” continued the Solidarity March.
Carine Rolland, the president of Centquatre, an artistic establishment in the city of Paris located in the 19th arrondissement, spoke of an opening restricted to the public with a ticket only.
On its website, the place indicated that it was accessible
only for the shows “Fase” and “Mémoires d’une seigneure”.
Young people declaring themselves minors
These are young people declaring themselves minors, but they have not been recognized as minors by the department and are appealing, said Nikolaï Posner, spokesperson for the Utopia 56 association. According to Émilie (she did not give her name), an activist present on site, these young people “request to be accommodated while awaiting the outcome of their appeal”.
“We are making repeated requests to the regional prefect for a shelter operation (…) and for the moment we have no response,” said Léa Filoche, Solidarity deputy. at the town hall, referring to the presence of 130 young migrants at Centquatre on Sunday.
Contacted, the regional prefecture did not wish to comment.
A “social cleansing” denounced
According to Émilie, these young migrants are preparing to spend a second night in the establishment.
She mentions an “ongoing discussion between the management of Centquatre, the town hall and the collective so that they can stay” on site “in the meantime”.
Associations denounce a “social cleansing” of the Paris region, gradually emptied according to them of its most precarious populations living on the streets in view of the 2024 Olympic Games. The authorities, for their part, argue that 120,000 people are housed every night in the title of the emergency in Île-de-France.