In the parking lot, next to a gray Polo, we hear the children crying. “I’ve been sleeping here for a fortnight,” said Remus, pointing through the camera to the driver’s seat. “My wife there”, passenger seat. “The little behinds”, on the bench. In fact, he no longer closes his eyes. At 24, slicked back hair, dull complexion, this father, who arrived from Romania with his family two months ago, in the hope of a better life, planted a rusty chair on the gravel.
Every night, on this vacant lot in Villeurbanne, near Lyon, he watches over his moving house with four windows, a car where the family is piled up, the trunk overflowing with clothes. He is wary, people could attack them. It happened.
“At that time, I was desperate”
One morning almost three weeks ago, her children Sandra, 3, and Sandu, 11 months, were sound asleep in the caravan when it caught fire. A neighbor overheard a man douse him in gasoline and run away. He had time to throw water. When Remus arrived, his arms laden with the bread the children were asking him for, the vehicle had burned down: “At that time, I was desperate. “Why such an act? ” I don’t know ! By racism? ” Yes. »
He has nothing left except his car. He was told that the Samu Social could find him a place in a shelter. He called 115, there’s no more. He insisted, in vain. Everything is packed. “I have no more solutions. This refusal, more and more families face it. In the metropolis of Lyon, at least 400 children are homeless.
“In ten years, the number of homeless people has doubled”
The national barometer of Unicef and the Federation of Solidarity Actors, published this Wednesday, is final. On the eve of the start of the school year, 1,990 children find themselves homeless, i.e. 20% more than last year (1,658), and 2.5 times more than in January 2022! This is without counting those who no longer even call 115, avoiding a refusal known in advance.
Faced with this sad summer record, the collective of united associations, which brings together 40, is today launching the alert. “In ten years, the number of homeless people has doubled, there are now more than 300,000 in France, explains Nathalie Latour, spokesperson for the collective. But until then, the children were relatively spared. From now on, this is no longer the case, their situation continues to deteriorate, it is extremely worrying! »
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At Unicef, we agree: “For lack of places, the criteria have tightened, laments Julie Lignon, expert in the fight against poverty. A few years ago, priority was given to families with children, then to those with children under three years old and now to one-month-old babies. »
Mental disorders and anxieties for these children
So, some pile up in makeshift shelters, building halls, on the sidewalks. “The profiles are varied, there are migrants and people weakened by inflation and the economic crisis who can no longer pay their rent”, explains Nathalie Latour, spokesperson for the collective who is asking for an increase in accommodation places. .
Unicef also warns about the impact on the mental health of children: “We observe a prevalence of mental disorders in 19% of them against 8% in the general population, worries Julie Lignon. Homelessness deprives them of a stable and protective environment, but also exposes them to anxiety and a drop in self-esteem. »
In the early morning, Remus’ family wakes up groggy with broken backs. No one has found sleep. Thick blankets fortunately protect children from the cold. They don’t complain. Once, Sandra, the little girl, asked him why they lived in a car, the father did not know what to answer. Next door, her cousin, who lives in a bungalow, feeds them.
Their life is played out night after night, punctuated by resourcefulness, waiting, unanswered questions. Flowery dress, Claudia, 22, the mother, would like to leave here. Will she have to raise her newborn in the gray Polo? She is 7 and a half months pregnant.
2023-08-30 07:56:47
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