120 foreigners in the Roissy waiting zone: associations slam the door
In the 6 years she has been leading the association, Laure Palun had never seen so many people in this Roissy waiting area (illustrative image).
REUTERS - Gonzalo Fuentes
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
In France, after the Red Cross, the National Association of Border Assistance for Foreigners (Anafé) decides to withdraw from the waiting area at Roissy airport, the largest in the country.
The NGO usually provides legal aid to foreigners who are not allowed to enter the country.
But she believes that the current sanitary conditions put her members and those detained in danger.
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Nearly 120 people are currently held in this area, awaiting their expulsion or the examination of their asylum application.
Too many people, in the midst of a pandemic, for too much space, according to
Anafé.
To denounce these conditions, the association decided not to go there anymore.
“
People must share their room, including with people they don't know,”
explains Laure Palun, the director.
The mask is sometimes badly, or not worn.
There is no natural ventilation of the premises.
Telephone booths are not disinfected.
The people who are locked up and the staff who intervene are endangered, despite the referrals to the courts.
Whether administrative or judicial, the courts have turned a blind eye.
"
An exceptional influx
In the 6 years she has been leading the association, Laure Palun had never seen so many people in this waiting area.
Airport authorities confirm this.
Since the start of the pandemic, and the drop in traffic, it was occupied on average by about fifty people, but last week, more than sixty Indians, in transit, landed at Roissy.
An exceptional influx, linked to the reorganization of air traffic.
Most of them refuse to undergo Covid tests, in an attempt to avoid deportation.
But of the hundred or so officials working in this area, the Roissy authorities assure that none has been contaminated to date.
‼ ️Anafé is temporarily withdrawing from ZAPI in order to protest against the outrageous and dangerous treatment reserved for imprisoned people and to protect its employees and volunteers.
- Anafé (@anafeasso) April 26, 2021
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