From 300 to 400 immigrants and homeless people entered midnight, on the night of Saturday to Sunday, in a building of 8,000 square meters “dedicated to destruction”, which is the subject of “a Citizen requisition, “explained the association United Migrants.
Le Monde with AFP
From 300 to 400 immigrants and homeless occupy an empty building in Gentilly (Val-de-Marne), in the Paris suburbs, and several dozen of them have entrenched themselves on the roof to avoid their expulsion from the place , learned the agency France-Presse (AFP), Sunday September 4, from associations.
These migrants penetrated around midnight, on the night of Saturday to Sunday, in this 8,000 square meter -meter building “dedicated to destruction”, which is the subject of “a civic requisition”, detailed the ‘United Migrants Association in a press release.
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One of the officials of the Operation in police custody
The police, who arrived on the spot, “stopped the entries and then invited people to leave the premises, which they refused,” the police headquarters reported to AFP, adding that The association manager had been arrested.
Solicited by AFP, the Créteil prosecution said that one of the officials of the operation was in police custody for “degradation in meeting”. “He is an activist well known to police services for many actions of this type in disused premises unfit for housing”, according to a source close to the file.
“These 400 people are homeless. They have already exhausted temporary housing solutions (…). In order to avoid sleeping on the street once with all the dangers and difficulties that they have decided to ‘occupy this place, argued the association. The inhabitants undertake to maintain the cleanliness of the premises and to ensure a calm occupation in compliance with the neighborhood. “
“The constitution of this squat is illegal and is not suitable to accommodate people with regard to the state of the building and the absence of electricity,” said the police headquarters, adding that a hundred women and children were on the spot.
These migrants are mainly exiles from Africa (Sudanese, Chadians, Ivorians, etc.) or Afghanistan, including several families. Sunday morning, “about 300 people [were] still on site”, including “around forty people entrenched on the roof to avoid being expelled,” added Madeleine Barataud, an associative activist on site.