78,000… is the number of people in Nice who live below the poverty line. Nice is the 4th poorest city in France. More than one in five residents have to make do with less than 900 euros per month.
Precariousness affects all types of households, families, single people, the elderly or students. The Restos du Cœur in Nice have 2,000 families registered in their 5 centers and each week during their marauding, they meet more than 300 people.
Nice is also a poverty that can be seen in the street. Last week during the night of solidarity, the marauder volunteers identified 197 homeless people in the city. With the 625 places occupied in emergency reception and accommodation, Nice has more than 830 people in great precariousness.
And the dynamic of precariousness is not good… With the covid, the number of Secours Populaire beneficiaries has more than doubled in the Alpes Maritimes. They were 5,000 in 2019, they are now 13,000.
We have about fifteen families in the street
The extreme poverty in Nice also creates situations of distress among asylum seekers. They normally have a different procedure than emergency accommodation. Only the reception centers are full, the associations then send them back to 115 but places are also lacking. Results: “We have about fifteen families in the street. We have a family with 3 children aged 5, 6 and 8 outside, the system is saturated.” explains Nicole Scheck, who works for the association Habitat & Citoyenneté.
The associations denounce in their letter the rejection of certain asylum seekers, a situation “illegal” according to them. Nicole recalls that “accommodation is a right… a French and international right.“Very upset against”lack of political will“, the associations are still awaiting a response from the Prefecture.