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French squatters organise against evictions

French squatters organise against evictions

At the Pouponnière squat, life goes on. This squat made official on November 1, 2022, is the largest in the city, with around a hundred inhabitants. Events are regularly organized there: concerts, games afternoons, activities for children, general assemblies, film screenings, snacks… There are also tutoring and language lessons twice a week, as well as a permanent medical on Tuesdays.

New squat at the Orne roundabout. On June 11, the General Assembly for the Fight Against All Evictions formalized a squat located on the marina of Caen. It is a building of 12 apartments, property of the social landlord Inolya, doomed to destruction to allow the realization of yet another crappy real estate project. About 40 people now live there. On July 28, the police carried out a water hammer operation there, officially to secure a passage for the bailiff. The police entered the building, broke the door of several apartments, or broke the locks with the help of the locksmith present, then checked the identities of the inhabitants. The latter were then able to stay in the squat, and the door was repaired. This operation took place the day after the promulgation of the new Kasbarian-Bergé “anti-squat” law. A few days later, an interim summons was received, which led to a first hearing on Thursday August 10, at the Caen court. A 14-day deferral was obtained. A next hearing, as part of the same procedure, will take place on Thursday August 24, at 11 a.m. at the tribunal de la Presqu’île de Caen; again, a rally in front of the court will take place.

The Carpiquet squat, formalized on October 15, 2022, was evicted on Thursday July 20. The former presbytery (owned by the municipality) was inhabited for 10 months by several families and people in exile. Already in April, another eviction took place on Boulevard Yves Guillou in Caen: that of a squat opened in October 2021.

On July 22, four squats were formalized in Lisieux (14) by the AG, fighting against all expulsions. The four houses, owned by the social landlord Inolya, are now inhabited by about twenty people whose care by the 115 recently ended. The squats have received a lot of support from the neighbourhood, and solidarity is being organized.

In general, in the Caen conurbation, there are currently around ten squats inhabited by exiled people, with the support of the AG fighting against all evictions. Some are expelled. In Caen, the housing situation is deteriorating: rents are increasing considerably, and accommodation at 115 is decreasing in number.

On the side of Ouistreham (a port city with daily connections by boat to England located 15 kilometres from Caen), the camp of Sudanese exiles is still there. Recently, the municipality of Ouistreham was forced by the courts (and a procedure launched by the supporters of the exiles) to install access to water for the camp. But for the moment, no construction has started, and the town hall and the Ministry of the Interior are appealing this decision. Mayor Romain Bail’s determination to make life impossible for the exiles of Ouistreham continues, despite the court decision. As a reminder, the mayor had removed the water tap from the cemetery, thanks to which the camp could be supplied with water. Previously, it was €25,000 worth of rocks and prickly shrubs that he had installed while filling in the ditches near the road to prevent exiles from settling on the landing roundabout, a crossing point for trucks to England. Finally, the town hall of Ouistreham will soon install 77 surveillance cameras for a budget of €800,000. Despite everything, they do not prevent successful passage to England!

AG against evictions
ag-contre-expulsions [at] riseup [dot] net
https://squ.at/r/1jaz
https://agcontrelesexpulsions.wordpress.com/

Nursery Squat
138 rue d’Auge
14000 Caen
https://squ.at/r/925c

Carpiquet Squat
10 rue d’Authie
14650 Carpiquet
https://squ.at/r/8zo1

Orne roundabout squat
15 Orne roundabout
14000 Caen
https://squ.at/r/9keb

This article first appeared in squat.net


Image: AG DE LUTTE CONTRE TOUTES LES EXPULSIONS – CAEN

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