They are those that we do not want to see, who make it uncomfortable. Those who have been hunting and moved for thirty years in France, in the Northeast Parisian triangle, with media police operations. Hundreds of drug addicts who live in great precariousness and consume in public space. For residents, it is hell. Successive evacuations only move the problem.
It’s a cold day with a pale sun. Aya Soro held his promise. Member of Collective Rosa Craqueshe takes us on the Crack Chemin in North Paris. “” We are going to go up the MacDonald boulevard to the Porte de la Villette, places where drug users come together. “As the tram stop, she designates a person:” LHe people are quietly stopping the tram and you can see, he passes them. He will go and ask for money. And then he is a person who needs help and who cannot live on the street. »»
Since the dismantling of the Square Forceval camp in the 19ᵉ arrondissement, in 2022, the 400 drug addicts who had settled there have returned in groups in the Rosa Parks district, still located in the north of Paris. There are a few in a small street. The approach is difficult, between distrust and aggressiveness. Bone face, yellowed fingers and blackened nails, Ali agrees to testify: ” This addiction is the most sneaky I have ever known. And since it’s cocaine, necessarily, it tends to push the brain a little. »»
Aya Soro, from the Rosa Craque collective, presents a resident of the neighborhood: “ We have injuries that are infected with the foot that has doubled in volume. It feels rot. They are sometimes naked in the metros. We see buttocks that are full of excrement. Frankly, we don’t want to see it all… “
Read too France: in Paris, the police dismantle a Crack consumer camp
“I don’t feel safe”
“” These are people who circulate here, Add Aya Soro. And especially that crack is a drug that puts people in a second state. They are very aggressive. There have been a lot of assaults in the neighborhood. Me, when I have to go to the parking lot to get the car, I’m afraid. When I go out at night, I don’t feel safe. I look behind me. It is true that it created a climate of fear. »»
The State and the town hall of Paris nevertheless draw a positive assessment of the second phase of the Crack plan, with, for example, a strengthening of the presence of the police. Insufficient, for Aya Soro. “” We see them during school hours of our children, we see them in front of the schools. But the problem is that it is not a few hours a day, nor on a few places, she denounces. It’s throughout the neighborhood and all the time. »»
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“” It is human misery, it is social misery, it is a collective suicide »»
The young woman leaves us in front The “Addiction Care” stopPorte de la Chapelle, now open seven days a week and which receives an average of 200 consumers per day. Drug addicts are agglutinated in front of the entrance. The eyelids and legs tremble. Jean-Loup was aggressive. Then he calmed down. “” It is human misery, it is social misery, it is a collective suicide “He said.
Advanceds were also felt, with additional accommodation places. Under exhaustion, the beautiful blue look resists. Tom, 43, benefited from accommodation. “” Me, I had this chance and it hurts my heart because not everyone is lucky, he regrets. And I had to be taken by the hand anyway. Without that, me, it would not have been possible. Now I don’t want to be on the street anymore. And that was an electric shock in fact. »»
Nevertheless, despite the efforts, the reception structures continue to miss in the capital.
To listen to news witnessesFrance: What solutions for crack consumers?