after the tents in the street, a new squat in Croix-Rousse
Residents of Croix-Rousse (Lyon 1st and 4th) took over a new building on November 15 to house young migrants who had been camping Montée de la Grande Côte since the end of the summer.
In 2018, residents of Croix-Rousse, 1st and 4th arrondissement of Lyon, had taken over the former Maurice-Scève college to accommodate young migrants – adults and minors – without an accommodation solution. The building accommodated up to 300 people before its evacuation and before the relocation of most of its occupants.
During the health crisis, young migrants who arrived in Lyon had systematically been sheltered, regardless of whether they were adults or minors. an “exception” linked to the socio-health context. Since last May, the most important young people assessed have been put back on the streets.
This summer, a new squat, called the Chemineur, had to be opened at Croix-Rousse. Today it welcomes around forty teenagers and it is full. However, young migrants continue to arrive in Lyon every day.
While the cold temperatures become difficult to bear at night, residents of the slopes of Croix-Rousse have decided to invest in a new building in the district.
From squat to squat, the uncertain daily life of young migrants in Lyon
Last night, it was 5 degrees in Lyon. And since the end of the summer, around thirty young migrants have been camping in the garden of the Montée de la Grande-Côte, in Croix-Rousse (Lyon 1uh). Higher in the district, the Chemineur, an empty building destined to be destroyed to build social housing, has been welcoming around forty of them since the end of June. They were lucky enough to be the first to set foot there. The latest arrivals have to make do with a tent and a duvet handed over to them, dead in the soul, by the Lyonnais, who have been taking care of these young people on a voluntary basis from the start.
The vast majority of these adolescents are not minors and between 14 and 17 years old. At the end of the assessment of their age by the Forum Réfugiés association, the Métropole de Lyon still concluded that they were of legal age, and therefore has no legal obligation to take care of these young people. For state services, they are not adults either.
Caught in this interminable ping-pong match, most of the young migrants have already appealed to the children’s judge, or are in the process of taking the necessary steps. In the majority of cases, the judge will recognize their minority within a few months.
Contacted by Rue89Lyon, the Métropole de Lyon ensures that it is working on new solutions for these young people stranded in a legal limbo, neither adults nor minors and therefore who did not depend on either the State services or those of child protection:
“We have already invented things with the creation of La Station, which can accommodate 52 young people. We are currently working with the prefecture to open a new site. We are awaiting a response from the state. We are not passing the buck, we are working together. “
In the meantime, these young people have to be content with a piece of sidewalk or a squat opened by supportive residents.
This is what happened at the end of June, when Lyonnais.es decided to take over the Chemineur. The idea was to accommodate several dozen young migrants who had been camping since the beginning of May in a public garden in the 4th arrondissement of Lyon, on the Croix-Rousse plateau. The others were accommodated in another building, made available by the City of Lyon, which somewhat exceeded its powers for the occasion.
“A situation that is no longer exceptional” in the metropolis of Lyon
Five months later, back to square one, with the added bonus of increasingly low temperatures at night. Residents of the Pentes de la Croix-Rousse have decided to open a new squat to give young migrants from the Montée de la Grande-Côte a shelter a little more solid than a tent canvas. This new building is located on Place Chardonnet; it is the property of the Hospices Civils de Lyon (HCL). It was invested from this Monday, November 15 to accommodate people on the street. They write:
“We, the inhabitants of the district, are outraged by this situation which is unfortunately no longer exceptional. The squat is not a solution for unaccompanied minors but faced with the inaction of the public authorities, it is the least bad that we have found. “
For the moment, only a few young people are accommodated in the building, under the surveillance of the mobilized residents. The building could accommodate up to 27 young people. A significant capacity, but which will not be enough to accommodate this winter all the young people who camp in the tents set up on the Grande Côte.
This Saturday, November 20, the new occupants of the building and their supporters deployed a colorful banner on the facade of the building to alert on the sorting of young migrants arriving in Lyon. In front, a dozen of them took the pose, bundled up in survival blankets.
This Saturday, November 20 also marked the 32e anniversary of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child. On this occasion, the collective Jamais sans toit is organizing a demonstration the same afternoon to alert on the situation of families in the street, some of whom are currently accommodated in their children’s school. According to figures from the collective, 130 children were concerned as of November 22.
A situation, again, which is no longer exceptional with the approach of winter in the metropolis of Lyon.
The young migrants from Le Chemineur have obtained a slight respite. The court decided to grant them one before the building was destroyed. At that time, we do not yet know what will happen to these adolescents, nor to the many other young migrants who also joined Lyon in the meantime.