Migrants in Paris. - Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP

Several thousand undocumented migrants and sympathizers demonstrated this Saturday in Paris, despite the ban by the police headquarters, to call for the "regularization" of undocumented migrants, who, according to the organizers, "suffered the most from the health crisis ”.

At the call of 195 organizations, the demonstration - which gathered 5,500 people according to the police headquarters (PP) -, left in the early afternoon from the places of the Opera and the Madeleine, before joining in the calm Place de la République, where the participants were dispersed at the end of the day.

The police intervened to disperse the crowds at # Opéra and #Voltaire, which were formed despite the ban on assembly. pic.twitter.com/DacoE44MC6

- Police Prefecture (@prefpolice) May 30, 2020

The police tried, by using tear gas, to prevent the start of the demonstration which had not been authorized by the PP, arguing "health risks" in the event of a gathering of more than 10 people. According to the PP, 98 people were arrested.

The police charge us at the tear gas #SolidSector pic.twitter.com/cb2lZKG73n

- Mwasi-Collectif (@MwasiCollectif) May 30, 2020

"Without rights, without income and without hope"

“We are here to make the invisible, the undocumented, who are suffering the most from this health crisis, visible because they live in overcrowded homes in which social distancing, hygiene are not compatible with the health rules for fight the coronavirus ”, explained Benoît Clément, from Solidaires Paris.

“For these populations, the current health crisis is becoming a veritable health bomb. They are without rights, without income and without hope of access to the allowances offered by the State. For them and for them, there is no free access to care and no other way to survive than to seek means of subsistence ”, denounce in a joint statement these organizations, which call for a new mobilization the June 20.

Paris

Coronavirus: The prefecture of police prohibits a pro-migrant march in Paris

  • Demonstration
  • Migrants
  • Society
  • Coronavirus
  • Covid 19
  • Illegal immigrants