Around a hundred young illegal immigrants have been occupying the Centquatre-Paris, the former site of municipal funeral homes, since Saturday to request accommodation, causing a partial closure of this cultural venue in the north of the capital, AFP learned on Sunday from reliable sources. .
“More than 100 minors are present after having been expelled during the
week from their camps on the banks of the Seine,”
wrote
on
.
“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
,” continues the Solidarity March.
Carine Rolland, the president of this artistic establishment in the city of Paris located in the 19th arrondissement, mentioned an opening restricted to the public only with a ticket.
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 argue for their part that 120,000 people are accommodated each night under emergency in Île-de-France.
The young people present at Centquatre belong to a group of some 400 illegal immigrants evacuated last Wednesday from the banks of the Seine due to the risk of flooding, specified a prefectural decree, a decision denounced by associations.
These young people declare themselves to be minors, but they have not been recognized as minors by the department and are appealing, explains Nikolaï Posner, spokesperson for the Utopia 56 association. According to Emilie (she did not give her name), an activist present on site and contacted by AFP, these young people
“request to be accommodated while awaiting the result of their appeal”
.
“We are making repeated requests to the regional prefect for a shelter operation (...) and for the moment we have no response
,” he told AFP. Léa Filoche, deputy for Solidarity at the town hall, mentioning the presence of 130 illegal immigrants at Centquatre on Sunday.
Contacted, the regional prefecture did not wish to comment.
According to Emilie, these illegal immigrants 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”
.
The show on Sunday evening at 8:30 p.m. is
“maintained for the moment”
, says Léa Filoche.