le village de tentes de sans-abri évacué de la pinède du Lac
This Thursday, the 43-year-old Sahrawi is preparing to leave the place where he has lived for the past four years. There are only a dozen homeless people left, like him, packing their bags…
This Thursday, the 43-year-old Sahrawi is preparing to leave the place where he has lived for the past four years. There are only a dozen homeless people left, like him, packing their bags in the sodden undergrowth. Twenty others have already left. It is the City of Bordeaux, owner of this land located in the municipality of Bruges, which has requested their evacuation.
“Two events overlapped,” explains Amine Smihi, deputy mayor in charge of security. “On the one hand, a dangerous fragility was observed in around a hundred trees, or 10% of the pine forest. It was necessary to carry out important pruning work, and to cut down about twenty of them. »
The City believes that security ordered an evacuation during the work. It was requested on January 11 at the Bordeaux court, which granted it. “Things accelerated this week with the weekend storm alert which led us to offer sheltering in municipal premises, as has already happened twice since 2020”, continues the elected.
It is in this context that 18 men have found refuge since Sunday, Pierre-Tachou room in Bacalan. This Thursday, the district mayor Vincent Maurin inquires about the situation of each: young or senior, Algerian, Moroccan, Sahrawi, Tunisian, in a regular situation or not… A reflection of the diversity of the paths of those who survived the Lake, where we also met French people, Afghans… and even briefly a Mongolian couple with three children.
And after ?
Two pregnant women were placed in a hotel for sixty days. “It was about time, I am four months old, it was getting difficult with the humidity,” says Sara (1), relieved to share this respite with her companion.
In December, the mayor of Bruges Brigitte Terraza had asked the mayor of Bordeaux to evacuate this slum which was hitting its citizens. Amine Smihi ensures that the measure taken this week is in no way a disguised response to this request. And that there is no question of barring the site to prevent the return of the tents.
“How to ensure non-reimplantation? I am not in a position to guarantee, but I am convinced that it requires cooperation between our two CCAS, Bordeaux Métropole Médiation and the DDETS. [direction départementale de l’emploi, du travail et des solidarités, NDLR] to find sustainable accommodation solutions, ” pleads the elected official.
The logging work should last two weeks. “I hope that the municipality will be able to keep the Bacalan room open for their entire duration,” says Cécilia Fonseca, from the association Les Gratuits, which provides marauding at the lake. “As I speak to you, nothing has been decided yet,” says Vincent Maurin.
Solutions have already been offered to some homeless people. But those who are in an irregular situation do not fall within the framework of any state system (competent in terms of accommodation), except for voluntary return assistance. Mustafa (1) still prefers the Lake and its insalubrity. ” No choice. »