Faced with the lack of accommodation places for asylum seekers in Dijon (Côte-d’Or), around thirty migrants have been occupying an abandoned building in the Marmuzot district for a week.
Since Tuesday, December 28, around thirty migrants have occupied an abandoned building in the Marmuzot district of Dijon (Côte-d’Or). A necessity according to them, given the lack of accommodation for asylum seekers. The occupants, men and women without children, come mostly from Somalia, Chad or Ethiopia.
The squatters warned the neighbors of their arrival by slipping a note in their mailbox. Among them, asylum seekers, who are entitled to be accommodated during the examination of their files. Banners posted on the facade of the building denounce their situation.
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Indeed, according to the law, an individual who makes an asylum request can benefit from accommodation in a reception center, but also from social and administrative support. “If no place is available, you are placed on a waiting list and you may be referred to temporary accommodation solutions, in a collective structure or a hotel”, specifies service-public.fr, the site of the French administration.
But for Mamadou, a Guinean who arrived in France 5 months ago, and who has found refuge in the unoccupied building since 2019, the reality is different. “This place, we occupy it to find us a roof. Without this place, we sleep outside. All the time, we are confronted with delay problems, either at 115, or with housing requests. can not get accommodation and stay warm “.
Is there a lack of accommodation for asylum seekers in Dijon? The prefecture did not wish to speak on the subject. However, if we look at the official figures published in July 2021, the number of reception places for migrants and refugees has increased in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, with more than 5,800 accommodations made available. A capacity that has doubled in the region over the past 6 years.
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But far from the figures, the Support Asile 21 collective helps the squatters on the spot. The organization denounces the lack of accommodation and the situation reserved for migrants.
“There is a housing problem for asylum seekers for different reasons. The criteria are increasingly tightened and the state is finding more and more maneuvers to withdraw the rights to allowances and housing. that these people are doing complicated and difficult procedures under conditions which are even more difficult “, Marine alert, member of the Asylum Support collective 21.
In the building, where we were unable to enter, the migrants have a little water but do not have access to electricity. The building is owned by a real estate developer. The hope of the squatters is to avoid an eviction during the winter. For the time being, no intervention is planned according to the Dijon prosecutor.
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