« J I slept on the road, at the Red Cross, at the gymnasium… My child, he goes to college every day. He works well. Me, I clean the hotel. How do I do ? We have nothing left. “ With about thirty other adults, their children and activists, this young Roma mother is being held, this Friday, September 17, on the Place du Marché-aux-Fleurs, in Montpellier. In front of the Hérault prefecture, they intend to protest against the destruction, the previous week, of their makeshift homes. “In Montpellier, the Roma are being evicted by fire! “ launches, at the start of the rally, Sophie Mazas, lawyer and president of the local branch of the League of Human Rights (LDH). She says she is very worried about the fate reserved, since this summer, to the inhabitants of the slums of the Hérault capital.
It all starts on August 5th. In the early morning, around 5.30 am, the inhabitants of the Mas rouge slum, located near the Port-Marianne district, were awakened by a fire. To the knowledge of the associations, no investigation has been carried out to determine the cause. But, on August 31, without notice, the prefecture organized the dismantling of the camp, on the basis of a court decision dating from … 2017.
The same day, in the afternoon, a new fire broke out in another slum, the Zénith. According to its inhabitants, the fire would have started in an unused caravan disconnected from the electricity network. They also mention the passage near the camp the following night of at least six hooded and armed people, firing shots and threatening them.
Two days later, on September 3, there was a rumor that the camp was going to be dismantled. During the weekend, new shots are heard, fired by armed individuals still seen around the camp. On Monday, September 6, the inhabitants decide to seize the court of Montpellier to prevent their eviction. A hearing date is set three days later.
A prefect who plays the “bulldozer”
On Tuesday, September 7, faced with the rebellion of associations, the municipality of Montpellier seems to want to clarify the situation by publishing a press release. She specifies that she is “Committed since June 2020 on a partnership strategy to reduce the slums” and “Support people towards rehousing solutions. (…) It is in this same state of mind that the city wishes to continue its action and indicated it to the State ”. And to certify that “She has not formulated a request for the eviction of the slums”. But, the next morning, 55 families were violently evacuated from the Zénith by the prefecture, again on the basis of a court decision not executed in the past: “300 people expelled… Scattered families, out of school children. Several people not accommodated sleep in the street, join other camps or form other slums ”, storm Élise de Foucault, the residents’ lawyer.
The municipality, which did not wish to respond to requests from Humanity, denies any involvement in the operation. The only person responsible would be the new prefect: Hugues Moutouh. This former adviser to Nicolas Sarkozy, in office since July 17, three weeks before the first fire, has specific objectives. As soon as he took office, he told the local press that it was necessary “Clean up the city” in front of “Populations that hang around and dirty”. While specifying: “A prefect must go quickly and know how to play the role of a bulldozer. “
But, for Sophie Mazas, the town hall of Montpellier is not exempt from responsibility. “An eviction cannot be ordered by the prefecture without a warrant from the owner”, explains the lawyer. Internal e-mails to municipal services, obtained from Humanity, report exchanges between the bailiff responsible for carrying out the operation, the prefecture and the mayor’s office, Michaël Delafosse.
A new fire in a third slum
The infernal cycle does not end there. On September 13 and 14, in several sites where the evicted people have taken refuge as well as in other slums, hooded and armed men come again to intimidate the inhabitants. And on September 16, around 4:30 a.m., after a night of torrential storms, a new fire broke out in a third slum, named Nina-Simone. In a video sent to Humanity, a man with a blurred face recalls the passage of two people on a two-wheeler, who had come to spill gasoline a few hours earlier.
Defenders of residents fear that an old court decision will, once again, be “IllegallyUsed to justify a new eviction. A hearing before the Montpellier court was held on Monday, September 27 to prevent it. “The deliberation is set for October 18, explains Élise de Foucault. Hopefully, the town hall has the loyalty to wait and does not evict in the meantime. “
The associations are surprised, in any case, by the consecutive outbreak of these three fires in the space of a month. “They occur in a deleterious context, marked by degrading and stigmatizing speeches (…) held by the highest representative of the State in the department” , Doctors of the World analysis. For Lucas, volunteer at Samu social, “It is difficult to know who is behind these crimes. Real estate developers? Racists encouraged by the prefect’s statements? The two ? “In the region, we are used to connections between the violent extreme right and the economic power. “These hooded men are reminiscent of the attack, in 2018, of the fascist commando at law school”, indicates, moreover, the person in charge of the LDH. And lawyer Élise de Foucault wonders: “One wonders who governs the city of Montpellier. ”
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