In France, centers reserved for Ukrainian migrants are partially empty. However, the state refuses to open them to other homeless migrants without accommodation. This blockage is denounced by the Paris City Hall, but also by several of the associative actors, who demonstrated in Paris this Saturday, July 9.
At the call of nine associations including Médecins du Monde and Utopia 56, several hundred people marched from the largest reception center in the capital located at Porte de Versailles to the prefecture of Île-de-France. Their motto: open these centers to non-Ukrainian migrants.
We are in front of the reception center for people fleeing the war in Ukraine. With the drop in arrivals, the center will close its doors. Yet refugees from elsewhere continue to be “welcomed” by the streets.
Faced with discriminatory policies, Equality! pic.twitter.com/Fr4sLOEZJ0
— Utopia 56 (@Utopia_56) July 9, 2022
A few meters from the rally, the reception center reserved for Ukrainians leaves more than 300 beds empty each night. In the procession, there are families, unaccompanied minors. Sofia, 29, is Portuguese, she has been in France for four years with her partner and her baby. They regularly sleep in a makeshift tent.
She explains her presence at the demonstration at the microphone of our journalist Stephane Duguet : “ Ok, there is a war in Ukraine and I think we all have our hearts with it. But there are plenty of free places here too. The Ukrainians need us, but there are already people in France too, who need the state. I think it’s mostly a political issue. And to play with the lives of people for a political question, it is not done at all. »
Health consequences
This precarious way of life has consequences on the health of migrants. Paul Alauzy is in charge of the “migrant health surveillance” project and of psychological permanence within the NGO Médecins du monde. ” Three weeks on the street, in a camp, we are malnourished, we lack sleep. Psychologically, it is very very complicated. We end up catching all the viruses that pass. If you have a chronic disease, it will only get worse. It is a situation that is unworthy. »
This center is ultimately everything we’ve been asking for for years: it’s both a place to rest, there are people who say “hello, welcome”, but there are also institutional structures such as the OFII, such as Social Security, such as Pôle Emploi, which allow you to take your first steps in society as quickly as possible. We are surely the first delighted with this welcome for Ukrainian people, but we just wish it could be the same for all other people.
Nikolaï Posner, member of Utopia 56, explains the process of the demonstration
Having accommodation is also essential for integrating into society. Youssouf is fifteen years old, he dreams of it in order to be able to study. ” With peace of mind, one can go to school and learn many things. Me, I’m going to school to be able to read and write and learn a trade to be able to defend myself. »
This night again, and like hundreds of other people, Sofia, her family and Youssouf will sleep in the street.
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