Toulouse: migrants back in their tents after an abortive squat attempt
Unaccompanied minors returned to their Allées Jules-Guesde camp after an unsuccessful occupation attempt on Saturday 3 September. They have been living in tents since August 26.
Unaccompanied minors, migrants mostly from West Africa, were expelled from the former Ehpad des Tourelles, in the Lardenne district of Toulouse. They have been camping in tents for 10 days on the Jules-Guesde alleys, between the Jardin des Plantes and the Palais de Justice.
Saturday at midday, they invested the former Bellefontaine college, closed since July. They managed to enter the enclosure, but residents of the neighborhood urged them to leave the premises, still made available by the county council for leisure activities, young people from the neighborhood.
“We didn’t want to let go, we need collective accommodation”
“We decided to go there, because we need collective accommodation, we can’t stay in tents indefinitely,” says Sirine, from Senegal, in perfect French. We managed to get in, the police came, but we locked the door. We were 100, 150. We didn’t want to let go, pursue the young man, sitting outside the camp yesterday.
“It’s very disappointing not to have been able to stay (at the former Bellefontaine college)”
“Inside, we didn’t touch anything, the equipment, all that, we were respectful. And then, residents came, they started to want to climb the wall, they told us that we had to leave. The police intervened, framed us to leave, because we received projectiles. In the subway, the police made us pass, so that we could return here. It is very disappointing not to have been able to stay there .We don’t want to hurt anyone, but we need a roof”.
Supported by associations and citizens, unaccompanied minors are waiting for a rehousing solution.