There are dozens of homeless people, families with children or poor workers, who have settled in tents on Place Bainville, a stone’s throw from the Solférino metro station in Paris, and especially right next to the Ministry of Housing. Camped there since Christmas Day, they asked for stable accommodation, and tried to make their struggle visible, while the cold raged.
“We have submitted an HLM application, we have priority Dalo [une loi qui reconnaît un droit au logement opposable, décent et indépendant aux ménages qui ne peuvent accéder à un logement par leurs propres moyens], or in progress. We work but we are homeless, because the rents are too expensive,” write the homeless in a press release from the Dal (Right to Housing) association.
The camp uninstalled and reinstalled
But the police headquarters, which twice tried to cancel this demonstration, does not see it that way. Rebelote yesterday, Wednesday January 10. The police chief issued an order around 6 p.m. to ban the demonstration, citing the presence of drunk people, noise or waste.
The order was overturned an hour later by the administrative court, which suspended the Prefect’s order according to Dal, since “no report or report attesting to these disturbances was drawn up”. “Thus by partially prohibiting the demonstration (during the day from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.) declared by the applicant association, the prefect of police infringed the right to demonstrate which is not proportionate to the objectives pursued of maintaining the public order. »
3,000 people without accommodation in Paris
The camp was re-established in the evening. “The fight continues for stable and decent accommodation for all the homeless people present there,” writes Dal. The Minister for Housing, Patrice Vergriete, announced on Monday that additional credits of 120 million euros would be committed to “strengthen the emergency accommodation system”. But the envelope should only cover the most urgent needs, to accommodate women and children on the street.
The 6th edition of Solidarity Night identified more than 3,000 people without accommodation in Paris on the night of January 26 to 27, 2023, including 105 minors, a figure up compared to 2022. In October 2023, Paris and five other cities have decided to take the state to court over the increasing costs they face to house people in emergencies.