A migrant camp at Croix-Rousse, June 7, 2021 rue Hénon.
For 10 days, young migrants have been sleeping in a makeshift camp on the Croix-Rousse plateau. The associations denounce a change in metropolitan policy.
On the lawn of the Gustave-Auguste Ferrié square on the Croix-Rousse plateau, rue Hénon, four young people from West Africa are playing a game of badminton, a big smile on their faces. But behind this veneer of happiness hide battered and battered lives and the fear of the next day. “We are there, we are not happy to be like that in the sight of people passing by. It’s not pretty to see. We are cold at night”, confides Amadou, 15, who came from Ivory Coast after a trip that he describes out of modesty as “difficult”. About fifteen tents are pitched in the grass. This Monday, June 7, they are 29 young migrants on the spot. All say they are minors.
Since the beginning of May, the collectives of aid to migrants in the Lyon metropolitan area have observed an influx of young isolated foreigners left to fend for themselves in the street. This is the consequence of an increase in the number of cases of young people not recognized as minors by the metropolis after the evaluation of their case by the Center for Shelter and Evaluation of Refugee Forum (CMAE). In the first quarter of 2021, only 16% of young migrants who requested it were recognized as minors by the services of the metropolis. In comparison, this proportion was 50% in 2019.
“Doubt systematically harms them”
“For us, there is really a problem with the initial assessment, because 80% of appeals before the juvenile judge are positive. The doubt is systematically prejudicial to them. We should wait for the report from the juvenile judge before submitting them. homeless”, plague Sébastien Gervais, of the Support / Migrants Collective Croix-Rousse. The time between the assessment made by the services of the metropolis and the hearing before the juvenile judge is on average three months. During this time, young isolated foreigners do not benefit from any support.
“My request was rejected by the forum”, laments Amadou, who sleeps alone in a tent while waiting for the appeal he filed to be studied by the children’s judge. “We ask that all minors be taken care of before seeing the judge”, Sébastien Gervais blows. “There, there are in addition the judicial vacations which are looming and risk delaying the appeals”, adds Benjamin Frérot, member of the Reception of Unaccompanied Foreign Minors (AMIE) collective. With other volunteers, they take turns in the camp day and night to provide protection and help to migrants.
The good souls who move around the camp alleviate the anguish of the young people. A Croix-roussien, probably in his sixties, enters the park and offers to bring back pastries for a snack. “The people here are good. We don’t know how to thank them”, smiles Amadou. “There is a spontaneous and unceasing solidarity on the part of the people of the neighborhood. They’re bringing food, metro tickets … “, concludes another volunteer.
