The Yellow Vest movement is two weeks into its occupation of a government-owned gym in Paris, which they’ve turned into a makeshift homeless shelter for 150 families.
Despite threats from police, the group demands that Macron fulfill his promises to solve homelessness and refuses to surrender the building until he does.
The Roquépine Gymnasium, a health center in a wealthy part of Paris, not far from the presidential palace. The group, which calls itself “droit au logement” (“right to housing”) rallied outside the gym Wednesday night, drawing attention for their cause.
“We hold the occupation until the state takes on its responsibilities” to help people, one organizer told News2Share. “Pressure is building for us to leave, but we won’t leave until we have a solution.”
“”We’ve received some threats yesterday from the authorities, but we don’t have any solution,” another said. “They are not proposing any solution for the people which are homeless which are defended by us.”
France offers that individuals with “social emergencies” such as housing or food insecurity can dial 115 to receive assistance, but the activists with droit au logement say that this has been ineffective during the Macron presidency.
“Macron promised us to shelter people already two years ago. Now the situation is totally the same. So we demand to the president of France to keep his promises, and to find solutions for the families.”
No Comment