” It’s a shame “. Collette from the Intersquat69 collective is “very angry”. This Monday morning, the Rhône prefecture carried out an “evacuation operation” of the “Pyramide” building, in the 7th arrondissement of Lyon following a “court decision dating from July of a procedure brought by the owner of the premises. For two years, between 100 and 250 people have occupied the premises because they cannot find accommodation.
“This squat, held illegally by slumlords, was reported by the mayor of Lyon […]. He was particularly concerned about acts of sexual violence, prostitution and drug consumption”, justified the State services, specifying that “preparatory orientation work” had been undertaken for several weeks to analyze the situations of each of the occupants. Thus, twenty-five children and adults had been sheltered since the end of summer 2023.
These people will find themselves on the street, according to the Intersquat collective
Following this operation, six people will benefit from return assistance offered by the French Office for Immigration and Integration (OFII), two will be supported by the applicant reception system. asylum and two minors by the metropolis of Lyon, communicated the prefecture. The rest of the evacuated residents, i.e. 74 people, were redirected to hotels in the Rhône and Loire for eight nights, the time for “an examination of the administrative situation and an individualized and complete social diagnosis”.
“And in seven days, everyone will be back on the streets, under the bridges,” exclaims Colette. No real solution was considered. » She emphasizes that the majority of those expelled work, are “regular”, some are retired, others with infants and children. “For them, squatting is their only way of not sleeping on the street,” she continues. Because they are faced with the difficulty of obtaining social housing and that of meeting all the conditions for private housing. She points out “the despicable choice” of the prefect who “chooses a policy of endangering the lives of others”.
“The street kills, it traumatizes, it makes you sick,” she says. It’s inhumane to leave your population like that, on the eve of the winter break. » She then calls for the requisition of empty buildings. An offer also made by the municipality. Friday evening, when this intervention was announced, she proposed the provision of a municipal gymnasium as an alternative to the lack of emergency accommodation places. Without success. Three days later, the city of Lyon then “denounced” the “manner” in which the prefecture had proceeded, regretting the lack of “an intervention framework “no eviction without rehousing””. Questioned on the question, she confirms having made a report to the State services, “remaining unanswered” and explains it by fears of sexist and sexual violence which were subsequently “dismissed”, she said. declared.
A “never-ending” situation denounced by the municipality
“This way of doing things is not going to solve anything. Without support upstream, without a solution behind it, it will be endless, comments Sandrine Runel, deputy mayor of Lyon, delegate for solidarity and social inclusion. Measures could have been imagined two years ago, we have also contacted the authorities for several months to work on finding a solution. There, other squats will be created. You have to think about the situation as a whole. »
She specifies that the city asked to postpone the operation until the end of March, so that “people can spend the winter sheltered”. New failure. Finding itself without competence on the subject, the municipality then decided to provide garages so that the inhabitants of the Pyramid could store their belongings there “while waiting”.