migrants expelled from the EHPAD des Tourelles take over Bellefontaine college
Last Friday, migrants who occupied a disused nursing home in Toulouse were expelled by the police. This Saturday, they retreated to a college in Mirail. The associations plead for them to be collective accommodation.
They are 80 or 100 depending on the associations. This Saturday, several dozen migrants have invested the Bellefontaine college in the Miralle district in Toulouse. “These young people need to be somewherepleads Jennifer Gruman, member of the AutonoMIE collective and the Tous-tes En Classe 31 (TEC 31) association.
According to her, “if they are not there, they are installed alley Jules Guesdes”. “The authorities don’t particularly want them to stay there, and neither do they.“raises the activist. “Sleeping in tents is absolutely impossible”.
If they were able to take possession of the building this Saturday, this solution does not seem viable in the long term. “We hope that we will be able to leave them alone, we hope to escape a strong expulsion. It is also in the interest of the authorities that they are concentrated in one place”. “They are there. So we have no choice“, insists Jennifer Gruman.
At the end of 2019, these migrants had settled in the former EHPAD des Tourelles, located a few meters from the Toulouse ring road, in the Cépière district. They were evicted from this building on Friday August 26 by the police. The evictions had been decided by the Administrative Court of Toulouse following a court decision rendered on May 6, 2022.
Without toilets, without showers, living conditions are not possible. they looked for a place where they could sleep on the hard, without having to worry about storms, cold.
Jennifer Gruman, member of the AutonoMIE collective and the association Tous-tes En Classe 31 (TEC 31).
Since their expulsion at the end of August, “they went where they could“says Jennifer Gruman. According to the activist, it is essential that all migrants stay together while their situation evolves. “It’s very important that they stay together. They need support, there are young people who don’t speak French, they need their friends who can be translators“, she pleads. “For education, health, we need them to be in the same place“, assures Jennifer Gruman, who specifies that”they’ve had it for a very, very long time but they’ve never been heard by the authorities”.
In addition to this request, the associations mobilized for the care of migrants ensure that many of them are unaccompanied minors. As the law provides, it is therefore the department of Haute-Garonne which must take charge of people in this case. “VSome young people are recognized as minors and supported by the ASE“, recognizes Jennifer Gruman.
For the others, the time that the authorities make the checks to certify the age and the minority of the migrants concerned, the situation seems hopeless. “We have kids who went back to school like that. Some will have to get up at 6:30 a.m. on Monday to go to school.“raises Jennifer Gruman. “On one of the students in second pro, first pro, CAP. They need to be in conditions that are good and start their schooling in the best possible way”.