The Paris police headquarters indicates that 398 people sleeping on Boulevard de la Villette were “taken to shelter” this Tuesday. She also issued an order to prohibit food distributions “in a defined sector of the 10th and 19th arrondissements”.
398 people sleeping rough on Boulevard de la Villette, in Paris, were “sheltered” Tuesday October 10, announced the prefect of the Île-de-France region and the Paris police headquarters in a press release.
>> Paris: a migrant camp in front of the city hall evacuated, more than 200 people taken care of
101 of them were taken care of and directed to temporary reception structures in the region (outside Île-de-France) and 297 other people in Île-de-France. The people concerned are 11 people in families and 387 isolated men.
“The people present in this camp are mainly from Afghanistan, who take the land migratory route via Turkey, and in a smaller proportion from the Horn of Africa region”, specifies the police headquarters. 5,092 people were “sheltered” since the start of 2023, the police headquarters has also been advancing.
Food distributions prohibited
Furthermore, the Paris police chief, Laurent Nuñez, issued an order on Monday October 9 aimed at banning food distributions “in a defined area of the 10th and 19th arrondissements” from Paris, from Tuesday October 10 to Friday November 10, 2023 inclusive. The demarcated sector is as follows: Place du Colonel Fabien in its entirety; rue Louis-Blanc; rue de Château-Landon; the boulevard de la Villette in its entirety; Avenue de Flandre to Passage de Flandre; the Moselle footbridge; rue de la Moselle; the passage of the Moselle; and from rue de Meaux to Place du Colonel Fabien.
This prefectural decree highlights “recurring nuisances caused in a geographical area around Boulevard de la Villette in Paris including the surroundings of Stalingrad and the Jaurès metro in particular, due to crowds of marginalized people, generated by food distributions organized on a recurring basis”. According to the police chief, “these gatherings lead people to mass along the side of the road or on the road, creating a danger for themselves and others”.
He also explains in this order that “attacks on health are regularly observed by local residents” and adds that these food distributions “carried out in front of or near establishments open to the public contribute to causing scuffles with customers wishing to access these establishments”. The Paris police headquarters estimates that “the distribution of foodstuffs to marginalized people does not exclude the need to be reconciled with other components of public order”.
Reports from local residents
The police chief provides another justification: “These food distributions generate, by their recurring nature, an increase in the population benefiting from these operations and that they contribute, as a corollary, to stimulating the formation of camps in the Boulevard de la Villette sector, where migrants are found, drugged people and homeless people (…) The police services have received multiple reports from local residents of disturbances to public order and nuisance linked to these food distributions”.
The police headquarters emphasizes that “the police services have carried out multiple evacuation and shelter operations in this area in recent months”. Thus, 253 migrants were evacuated on June 26, “242 people were supported” on August 3, he also mentioned two operations in September which concerned 703 people. “The number of these operations in a short period of time and the number of people involved underline that the sector is a fixation point for such camps”explains the police prefect in his order.
Finally, he notes that “other solidarity catering services, social grocery shopping and food parcels for people in precarious situations remain available in the 19th arrondissement”.