Several thousand demonstrators in France for the regularization of undocumented migrants

"No human being is illegal", "Regularization of undocumented migrants. Closure of CRAs (Administrative detention centers, Editor's note). Housing for all.": Saturday June 20, several thousand people marched in Paris and in several other cities to demand the regularization of undocumented migrants and accommodation.

In the Parisian march, many demonstrators displayed a yellow sign with the drawing of a man with a raised fist.

The call to demonstrate came from several collectives and the Marche des solidarités.

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Babacar Sall, who arrived from Senegal three years ago, demonstrated for the first time. "We have no papers. Eating is a problem. Sometimes I do a bit of moonlighting, but that's it. I help people to move or I do plumbing. 'I am offered a job I take it', says this 42 year old man who lives in Montreuil.

"Before, I worked with someone's papers but he was taking too much money," added this man who left his wife and daughter in Senegal. "Sometimes I send them 20 euros sometimes 30 as soon as I can".

>> See: "We are mistreated like slaves": on the picket line of undocumented workers in Alfortville

Coming from Mali, Tidiani Diagouragai, he arrived in 2018 in France. "It's hard in Mali, because of the war. I came here to work. But I can't work because I don't have documents," said the 36-year-old.

For Hassan, a Moroccan in France for eight years, "undocumented migrants participate in the economy of France". He is a pizza chef in Paris and pays taxes. "I'm here to be regularized. With papers, I could buy a car, have housing more easily," he concludes.

"We are asked for training but even with that, we are rejected"

Same testimonies and watchwords elsewhere in France. In Lyon, around a thousand demonstrators marched calmly to demand "papers for everyone". A group of some 200 "yellow vests" and trade unionists from the CGT joined the procession.

"Air, air, let's open the borders!", "Stop precariousness", "Freedom, equality, regularize!", "Right to live = right to work!", Could we read on banners and placards. Many demonstrators were also present to denounce racism and police violence.

In Grenoble, more than 300 people gathered in front of the prefecture. Among them, Chérif Cheik, a 20-year-old Malian who hopes to finish his Bac Pro as a building technician next year, and has neither accommodation nor paperwork.

"I manage with friends and associations to find accommodation, but that's not what I want. At the prefecture, we are asked for training but even with that, we are rejected. At one point, we have the boss, we have the contract to work but not the work permit. It's shit, "he summed up.

In Rennes, there were about 250. In Montpellier, 220 people, according to the prefecture, marched behind banners indicating that "no human being is illegal". In Strasbourg, there were a hundred, including Djibril, a 22-year-old Libyan who says that she has been waiting for 13 months for a response from Ofpra to her asylum request.

A demonstration against police violence was also organized on Saturday in Paris. About a thousand people participated in this rally in memory of Lamine Dieng, 13 years after the death of this 25-year-old Franco-Senegalese after an arrest, in a context of denunciation of police violence, found an AFP journalist .

With AFP

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