The nearly 1,000 homeless people, mainly migrants, who camped since 1 September in front of the city hall of Ile-de-France, in Paris, to demand accommodation solutions, were evacuated on Saturday, 4 September. According to the city of Paris, the operation began around 6:00 in the morning.
The homeless, mainly from Afghanistan and sub-Saharan Africa, were separated into two groups – families on one side, single men on the other – waiting to be taken care of. In charge of being sheltered by the regional city hall, which administers the emergency accommodations.
Volunteers from various associations, including France Terre Asile and Utopia 56, were present.
Shelter under construction in the André-Citroën park in #Paris. We make sure that all women, men and children present at this camp are taken care of, otherwise we will stay. pic.twitter.com/fybXIAn11D
– Utopia 56 (@ Utopia_56) September 4, 2021
The homeless rose in drops during the morning on buses chartered by the city, the first step towards a possible accommodation solution.
“Let’s not give up, let’s continue to make the invisible visible. We no longer want this ping-pong we’ve lived for decades, sheltered on the street. We simply want lasting housing for all the people who are there (…) It’s time to rethink the reception system”, declared Yann Manzi, founder of the Utopia 56 association, announcing “another action to follow” What if “all the men” were not supported.
This installation in front of the city hall was the 10th action of Collectif Réquisitions, which brings together various associations (Utopia 56, Solidarity emigrants Wilson, Children of Afghanistan and elsewhere, the DAL) multiplying the punches to make these exiles visible on the street. In July, this organization occupied Paris’s chic Place des Vosges, after a city hall gym in May and an old crèche in January.
