While people in very precarious situations sleep in the streets, dozens of beds remain empty in a Parisian emergency accommodation center intended for the reception of Ukrainian refugees. In order to be able to house the homeless there, regardless of their nationality, the associations Médecins du monde and Utopia 56 therefore took legal action to order the State to open these vacant beds to people and families without a solution. of accommodation.
The judgment on appeal took place this Friday before the Council of State. Paul Alauzy, project manager at Médecins du monde, explains the approach of the two applicant associations: “ We seized the judge in chambers saying: ‘“It is urgent”. We, with the Utopia 56 association, meet people on the street every evening, and in particular families, babies, sometimes two-day-old, two-week-old, three-week-old children, and we learned that there was a reception center for Ukrainians in which there were empty beds. In this centre, we know, from the people who work there, that there is a capacity of 250 beds and that of these 250 beds there are on average 120 that are occupied per evening, so there are an average of 130 beds which are empty every night in this centre. »
The two associations have therefore asked the courts to make these beds, which are empty every evening, available to the most vulnerable. They want there to be the same welcome for all people fleeing war and misery when they arrive in France, whether they are Ukrainians, from Côte d’Ivoire, Syria or Afghanistan, whether they have a welcome that means they don’t spend any night on the street.
” We fight to get it, but it was not the exact subject of today, the exact subject of today is that of an emergency device, that in the evening we are told: “This evening, there are 80 beds available, 40 beds, even 10 beds” we will seize it, because there are such urgent situations, that we need these places. »
Physical and psychological distress
For these two associations, it is urgent to open the vacant beds in the reception center for Ukrainians, particularly in this period of extreme cold.
“ Today, it is -3, -4 degrees, the people we meet, they are in terrible physical and psychological distress, explains Chrystel Chatoux, co-president of Utopia 56. And these are people who, for lack of space today by calling 115, which is the emergency number for the homeless, are going to spend the night with a simple blanket over their shoulders, when they there are free places at the reception center for Ukrainians. »
A 27-year-old single mother lives on the street with her 4-year-old daughter, she hopes that the Council of State’s decision will free up places: ” We really hope because we don’t understand how we can save places for people who haven’t even arrived yet, when there are children outside, in the cold, it’s not normal. »
Much awaited by associations and the homeless, the decision of the Council of State will be known at the beginning of next week.
This evening, by 1°C, the Utopia 56 team in Paris meets dozens of families on the street.
This evening, however, a hundred beds reserved for people arriving from Ukraine will remain empty. ?— Utopia 56 (@Utopia_56) December 15, 2022
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