Food distributions have been prohibited since Tuesday, October 10 in a working-class district of Paris where migrants and homeless people concentrate. A decision “ unacceptable » which will hit the most deprived, deplore the associations, who see in this decision the imprint of the experiments carried out in Calais.
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The decree signed Monday by the Paris police prefect, Laurent Nuñez, provides for a “ ban on food distribution » for one month, between October 10 and November 10, in a sector “ delimited » of the 10th and 19th arrondissements, concerning nine arteries in the popular district around the Stalingrad and Jaurès metro stations.
It is there, according to the police headquarters (PP), “ that these food distributions generate, by their recurring nature, an increase in the population benefiting from these operations and that they contribute, as a corollary, to stimulating the formation of camps in the sector of Boulevard de la Villette, where migrants are found, drug addicts and homeless people “.
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The neighborhood, argues the police headquarters, has become “ a fixing point for such camps “. Also on Tuesday, the prefecture of the Ile-de-France region and the PP announced that they had carried out in the morning the “ shelter » of 398 people sleeping rough on this same boulevard de la Villette. They were mainly Afghans, according to the authorities.
These authorities promised “ actions » to come, including these bans on food distribution, “ to avoid any relocation “. On site, specifies the prefecture, the “ gatherings “, THE ” overflows on the roads », certain scuffles as well as the presence of “ drug addicts ” have led ” for the first time » the police prefect to issue such an order in this Parisian sector due to “ public order disturbances “.
“ We complicate the lives of associations and people »
However, there is “ never had any incidents on our distribution sites », Contests Philippe Caro, a manager of the Solidarité Migrants Wilson collective, one of the organizations whose action is targeted.
“ We complicate the lives of associations and people, without ever solving their problems. We’re just going to move it, but with the Olympic Games who arrive, we feel that the pressure is increasing and there the drug addicts will serve as a pretext to fire everyone » from the north of Paris, he believes.
Samuel Coppens, spokesperson for the Salvation Army association, fears that once again, “ people in poverty suffer from this situation » and they still have to move. Samuel Coppens obviously points out the situation of migrants who often find themselves in this part of the 10th and 19th arrondissements.
“ For us, humanitarian associations, a hungry person is a hungry person, so we must and we will continue to serve these people.he said. I think that it is more and more difficult today to be an actor of solidarity and that is something that hurts me while we have been pursuing fraternity for so many years, that we really want to think that the other is not an enemy, whatever he may be, but someone who if in need, whom we must serve. The people are there anyway, so let’s deal with it and make sure we meet them and get to know them. » “ I think it’s the best weapon against the threat and distrust that they supposedly impose on the other », he continues.
For the association, the State applies in Paris “ the same pattern as in Calais », where similar decrees – but with wider areas – have been issued regularly since 2020. At the time, the defenders of immigrants had already taken the case to the highest administrative court, but the Council of State had refused to revoke the decision.
The associations, which met on Tuesday, are studying the possibility of legal action. “ Legally, the ban may be valid », Anticipates Philippe Caro, of Solidarité Migrants Wilson. “ But humanly, this is unacceptable “.