The camp, which housed more than 70 young people considered by several associations as foreign minors, in the Jules Ferry square in the centre of Paris, was evicted Tuesday morning. The young people were directed to a gymnasium and hotels.
After more than a month camping in the Square Jules Ferry in central Paris, some 70 young migrants who claim to be minors were evicted on Tuesday 4 August.
The eviction, which was carried out peacefully, ended at around 8:30 a.m. With masks on their faces, the young people were accompanied on buses by agents of the Ile-de-France prefecture and the Paris City Hall, under the watchful eye of a few police officers standing back. An eviction order had been posted by the police on Sunday evening in the camp.
Forty-eight young people were taken to the Japy gymnasium in the 11th arrondissement. Thirty others, more vulnerable due to medical conditions – including seven young girls – were housed in social hotels.
Evaluated as adults by several departments, the young men present in the camp are currently awaiting their appeal against this evaluation. In the meantime, no accommodation arrangements are planned for them.
Paris must “set an example”.
The associations that support them (Utopia 56, Comede, les Midis du Mie, la Timmy and Médecins sans Frontières) are campaigning for them to be considered as minors and taken into care as children in danger during the judicial process, which can last between six and eighteen months. They call on Paris to “set an example” by creating a specific system for these young people.
Contacted by InfoMigrants, Corinne Torre, head of the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) mission in the Ile-de-France states that she has accepted the solution of sheltering young people in a gymnasium “exclusively because it should be a transitional solution”. According to her, “Dominique Versini [deputy mayor of Paris in charge of children’s rights and child protection] has agreed to question the minority as it is decided today”. The deputy should organize meetings with those involved in the evaluation of children at the beginning of the school year for this purpose.
In addition, an agreement has been reached with the Paris City Council to set up a mechanism for these young people in appeal. “The building has been identified but it is a building in need of renovation so we have no idea when it will be available,” says Corinne Torre.
On Thursday, Dominique Versini had explained that a site had recently “been found” and that the state was in discussion with an association that could manage it. The centre, which would be a first in France, should, according to her, “be co-financed by the state”, because “the care of these young people is the responsibility of the state”.
A speech contradicted Tuesday by the secretary general of the Ile-de-France prefecture, Magali Charbonneau. “The State is not in favour of the creation of a third party scheme, because it is not justified,” she said, stressing that “all these young people have been assessed as adults”. After they have been sheltered, “they will be directed to structures for adults”, pending a court decision, she added.
According to MSF, more than half of the young people accompanied by its services are finally recognised as minors by the justice system at the end of the appeal procedure.
Refugees related groups in France https://radar.squat.net/en/groups/country/FR/topic/sans-papiers
Some squats in France: https://radar.squat.net/en/groups/country/FR/squated/squat
Groups (collectives, social centres, squats) in France: https://radar.squat.net/en/groups/country/FR
Events in France: https://radar.squat.net/en/events/country/FR
InfoMigrants https://www.infomigrants.net/fr/post/26424/paris-evacuation-du-camp-de-mineurs-installe-dans-le-square-jules-ferry
