France: Evicted Latin American "squatters" still sleep on the streets

It had been a week since the people who lived in a squatter house in Saint-Ouen were expelled and since then dozens of people camp in front of the city hall of this commune.

The prefecture of the department claimed that the expulsion "met the security requirements" because "the place presented presented risks of fire". "We wanted to meet all public safety standards: we bought smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, we set deadlines for drilling and other noisy construction maneuvers, "said Marco Avila, who lived in the factory.

People, when they heard in May that there was an eviction order, tried to negotiate with the mayor of Saint-Ouen, owner of the land and abandoned premises, to allow them to pay for electricity, water and affordable rent. They did not reach any agreement. According to the French authorities, the argument in favor of expulsion is the future construction of a school in this building, but up to now, no authorization allows to transform it into an institution school.

Street situation

After the evacuation, some people, such as pregnant women or families with children under three, were temporarily staying in hotels. A week after, They joined the camp facing the town hall.

There is Margarita, who suffers from a disability of 80%. "When they deported us, they told me that I could go to one of these social hotels, but in the three badigned to me, I was fired for disability. could not guarantee my safety, they said earlier close the door in front of me"denounced the woman.

"I have often called the 115 (emergency service) without anyone answering.The situation is very complicated, we will have to sleep here, we are looking for tents," lamented Edwin Bravo, a father of Colombian family. His asylum application was refused and he lost his job some time ago: "I could not continue to pay rent from the house where we lived with my wife and two children. That's why, when they told us about this place, we decided to live there. "

Solidarity of the inhabitants of the region

"You do not want anything from the French state.We work because we have come to that, we want to be honest and pay for something suitable," said Julia, who travels daily to clean the house .

Residents and badociations have been taking turns for a week to bring clothing and food to the evacuees, among other things: "When we saw the weather it was, we called to bring tarpaulins and we needed more , and also tents"commented for the newspaper The Parisian, Aliénor Turpin, from the collective Saint-Ouen is rebelling ("Rebels of Saint-Ouen"), which multiplies the calls on the social networks.

About 100 people gathered on August 2 in front of City Hall, and a new call is planned for this Friday.

By Angelica Pérez.