“The first battle is to house everyone with dignity”. These words, spoken by Emmanuel Macron during the 2017 presidential campaign, have never been forgotten by associations. So they resume during each industrial action. About 150 to 200 young migrants, accompanied by associations, including Utopia56, settled on Tuesday evening in a disused school in the 16th arrondissement of Paris to demand shelter. These unaccompanied minors (MNA), most of the time living on the street, took over this school around 9:30 p.m., in a few minutes. The same premises had already been briefly occupied by migrants at the initiative of Utopia56 in 2021.
For Nikolai Posner, one of the leaders of the association, these young people are under police pressure when they try to set up camps, hence the use of squats. “The goal is to stay until we are offered a solution. We came here two years ago, we had solutions in the evening, ”he says. “We ask that these young people be accompanied by social assistance for children”, the time that their appeals are examined with a juvenile judge.
“When I arrived in France, I did not expect that”
The association campaigns for the presumption of minority to be declared in French law, so that young migrants are declared minors upon arrival until the judge decides. “I hope that we will be taken care of,” explains one of them, Alpha Oumar, 16, who says he arrived in France in December. Since then, he has lived on the street, and says he has moved around a lot, notably Porte de la Villette or Porte de la Chapelle. “The police forbid us to stay, we have to change corners”, he explains, adding: “When I arrived in France I did not expect that”.
“Despite our repeated requests, the prefecture of Ile-de-France as well as the Secretary of State for Child Protection, Charlotte Caubel, continually refuse the establishment of a space for exchange and consultation with the actors on the ground, in order to put in place lasting and constructive solutions”, write in a press release the associations which organized this occupation. These associations, Utopia 56, TIMMY, TARA and the Midis du MIE, “demand multidisciplinary support” for young migrants, “adapted to their individual situations and in stable accommodation in Ile-de-France”.