Not all hotels are closed. Since the start of confinement on March 18, 7,800 hotel places have been requisitioned by state services and are now available throughout France for the homeless, based on the winter plan. A situation that raises concerns with hotel staff unaccustomed to welcoming this public.
“In the Nord department, 300 places in 8 hotels have been mobilized since the start of the coronavirus health crisis. 115 is responsible for directing people to these places, ”says the prefecture. At the national level, the prefectures listed, last week, 172,000 homeless people housed in these general emergency accommodation structures.
Prevention role
In the Lille metropolis, 180 people are accommodated in 5 hotels, while the Lille youth hostel also remains open. "Our role is to do prevention with reminder of the instructions and basic safety measures against the coronavirus", explains the
Civil Protection of the North, body responsible for coordinating with hotels.
And this new device is not necessarily simple to set up. "The manager of a Roubais hotel has been making his establishment available for a long time so the staff are used to it, but this is not the case for the others", recognizes an official of Civil Protection.
Curfew between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m.
During the day, volunteers take turns to supervise the confinement of the homeless, but at night, an on-call system is put in place. The receptionists then find themselves alone, "without a security guard", as one of them points out at 20 Minutes . “Normally, there is a curfew between 8 pm and 8 am but few respect it and alone, it is difficult to prevent them from going out, especially through the windows. One has the impression of being police watchers. "
Especially since the health security conditions are far from being met. "For almost a month, this is a tarpaulin that has served as protective glass at the reception," denounces the Lille hotel agent. And if the device provides for one person per room - except for couples and families - "it is not uncommon for them to be together," he adds.
Damage in a hotel
However, with hindsight, the anxiety of the staff - who feel left to their own devices - has eased a little. “We welcome prostitutes or schizophrenics and we are not trained for that. But, despite some bad behavior, it is going relatively well. With us, the manager had to fire two who were fighting and others who were dealing in front of the hotel, ”says the receptionist.
A hotel in Lomme has, on the contrary, decided to close its doors, victim of damage. Fire detectors had been damaged by the occupants of a room to allow them to smoke.
About ten days ago, seven United Nations special rapporteurs, notably those in charge of poverty issues and migrants, had been contacted by a hundred organizations so that they asked the French government to better "include" the most disadvantaged in the management of coronavirus.
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- Lille
- Homeless
- Coronavirus
- Hotel