Paris
Sunday, August 20
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The Pyramid designed by the American architect, IM Pei, at the Louvre.
The Sainte Clotilde Basilica in the 7th arrondissement.
Statue in the park in front of the Sainte Clotilde Basilica. |
I’ve been
following a startling news story here in the The dormitory
is slated for demolition because it is too deteriorated. It also is full of asbestos and lead
paint. Last April, the courts decided
that the squatters must leave. But
some non-profit associations urged them to stay put until the government came
up with “appropriate” lodging for them.
So on Thursday, the government (prefecture and national, not the
local) sent in 900 police officers, 600 firemen, ER doctors, and the Red
Cross, and the 500 squatters were forced to leave. Some 300 did, and they were put up mostly
in hotels, I think, all over the region.
But that left 200 or so still camping out, outdoors, next to their
former “home.” The expulsion
was described as “virile” and “powerful,” forcing the families of squatters
to leave behind many of their possessions.
They took only what they were able to carry. Lots of children’s toys were left
behind. Lots of children were crying
their eyes out. Many of the men
were at work, and when they returned “home” they did not know where to find
their wives and children. One man in
that situation said, “While in I don’t
understand this chaos because the government claims that they had everything
all ready, with 1000 hotel rooms and services available. But only about 300 of the 500 squatters
were put up in hotels that first night.
The government claims that the problem was that the non-profit
associations had convinced 200 or so of the 500 squatters not to budge. But I think part of the problem was that
the government was offering only one month in a hotel, and what would happen
after that was unclear. So many of the
children in the remaining group (about 60 of the remaining 200 squatters are
kids) got sick from sleeping outside in the cold. Temperatures at night, outside Then the next
day the government sent in forces who used brutality to force the remaining squatters to leave the
grounds. After about 10 minutes of
violence, the squatters were defeated.
In the violence, one woman had her knee broken, a man had his ribs
broken, and a little boy had his lip split open. Two pregnant women fainted. A man was unconscious, probably because he
was hit on the head. By about 8PM,
the local government of Cachan (with a Socialist mayor) had temporarily
provided a gymnasium for them to stay in until they can be placed in
“appropriate” lodgings. The gym is too
small for everyone, so the women and children sleep there, and the men sleep
in the corridor or outside. The mayor
is pleading with the prefecture and the national government to come up with a
bigger facility. It is the prefecture
and the national government that are forcing the end of this “squat,” not the
city of Out of the original 500 squatters, forty-some
did not have legal status and are going through the tribunal process. As for the
Cooleys, we went on a long walk yesterday and had a relaxing lunch at Le
Bourbon, the beautiful brasserie/restaurant on the Place du Bourbon, right
next to the National Assembly building.
Then in the evening, we had a delicious dinner (the travers de porc – barbequed ribs- are
finally back!) with J and M from Sanibel at La
Gauloise. We enjoyed meeting
their friend Nancy, a Californian, who also dined with us. |
