Latest news with #NathanLequeux
The Irish Sun
4 days ago
- The Irish Sun
Migrants ‘urinated on' after hundreds protest & sleep under tarpaulins outside Paris' iconic town hall
TWO men have reportedly urinated on a pregnant homeless woman and her children in an alleged vile assault on the streets of Paris. The young family were sleeping on the ground outside the iconic Paris City Hall alongside hundreds of migrants when they claim they were degraded. 8 Hundreds of migrants staying in a makeshift camp in front of the Paris City Hall Credit: EPA 8 Those in the tents are waiting for emergency accommodation in Paris Credit: EPA 8 Dozens of children run over to makeshift food stands to eat Credit: EPA A pair of Parisians, aged around 20, are accused of urinating on the mum and her daughters, aged 6 and 14 months, at 1am on Sunday. The claim has come from Utopia 56 Paris association who organised the gathering of homeless people in France. They described the incidents as "extremely serious" and confirmed a complaint has been filed. The humiliated and scared mother has said the ordeal has left her children crying for days. She said: "Since then, my daughter hasn't been able to sleep. She says they're going to come back and pee on her. "She won't stop crying, and other children make fun of her." The men fled the scene when they were spotted by Utopia 56 Paris staff, according to the organisation. Two officers were alerted and managed to track down the men. One has reportedly been arrested. Utopia 56 Paris released a statement on the alleged attack as they detailed why hundreds of homeless people have been camping outside Paris City Hall. Riot police clash with suspected migrants in France They said: "This occurred after approximately 300 homeless people, including a dozen unaccompanied minors and around a hundred young children, had just spent five days and five nights on the forecourt of Paris City Hall. "They are simply asking for the law to be respected, to escape extreme poverty, and to access emergency accommodation. "The humanitarian situation there is deteriorating by the day." Dozens of families have been seen sleeping on the floor using tarpaulin sheets as roofs as part of the latest demonstrations in Paris. Nearly 300 migrants, mostly women and children, have been gathered since August 5. Those taking part are simply asking for shelter, according to Utopia 56 Paris. Pictures of the event show families taking shelter under the tarpaulin with some wrapped in blankets and others using sleeping bags. Many of them have packed up their belongings into plastic shipping bags. 8 Dozens of families have been seen sleeping on the floor using tarpaulin sheets as roofs as part of the latest demonstrations in Paris Credit: EPA 8 Nearly 300 migrants, mostly women and children, have been gathered outside Paris City Hall since August 5 Credit: EPA The makeshift tents are surrounded by metal gates with the sun beaming down on the migrants throughout the day. Nathan Lequeux, coordinator of the Utopia 56 association's Paris branch, told InfoMigrants: "We will not move until a lasting solution is found." The organisation has been handing out breakfast and lunch to those outside with the numbers of migrants increasing each day. About 90 children are outside the building with Utopia 56 counting more than 30 under three year olds. It comes as France has been battling with a major migrant issue in recent months. In July, French riot cops were attacked by a mob hurling rocks just yards away from the shore. The shocking clashes between migrants and cops were caught on camera while small fires are alight in the road near a park in Gravelines. Footage showed a group throwing rocks from afar in the direction of the officers in the northern coastal town early on Friday morning. It comes after a new migrant deal was agreed between the UK and France in a bid to tackle the small boats crisis. Last week, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed a one in, one out migrant returns deal in a bid to crack down on the crossings and the people smuggling gangs who operate them. But France will be able to choose which migrants to take back - prompting fears that the UK will be stuck with dangerous criminals. The details of each migrant selected for return will be given to France, allowing it to reject those with a criminal record or deemed a security risk. Both France and the UK will have a veto over which of the small boat migrants they take in. Britain will take into account if the migrants have a connection to the country and if they have lived here before. 8 Utopia 56 have been handing out breakfast and lunch to those outside Credit: EPA 8 Soaring temperatures have made the homeless struggle in the heat Credit: EPA
Scottish Sun
4 days ago
- Scottish Sun
Migrants ‘urinated on' after hundreds protest & sleep under tarpaulins outside Paris' iconic town hall
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) TWO men have reportedly urinated on a pregnant homeless woman and her children in an alleged vile assault on the streets of Paris. The young family were sleeping on the ground outside the iconic Paris City Hall alongside hundreds of migrants when they claim they were degraded. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 8 Hundreds of migrants staying in a makeshift camp in front of the Paris City Hall Credit: EPA 8 Those in the tents are waiting for emergency accommodation in Paris Credit: EPA 8 Dozens of children run over to makeshift food stands to eat Credit: EPA A pair of Parisians, aged around 20, are accused of urinating on the mum and her daughters, aged 6 and 14 months, at 1am on Sunday. The claim has come from Utopia 56 Paris association who organised the gathering of homeless people in France. They described the incidents as "extremely serious" and confirmed a complaint has been filed. The humiliated and scared mother has said the ordeal has left her children crying for days. She said: "Since then, my daughter hasn't been able to sleep. She says they're going to come back and pee on her. "She won't stop crying, and other children make fun of her." The men fled the scene when they were spotted by Utopia 56 Paris staff, according to the organisation. Two officers were alerted and managed to track down the men. One has reportedly been arrested. Utopia 56 Paris released a statement on the alleged attack as they detailed why hundreds of homeless people have been camping outside Paris City Hall. Riot police clash with suspected migrants in France They said: "This occurred after approximately 300 homeless people, including a dozen unaccompanied minors and around a hundred young children, had just spent five days and five nights on the forecourt of Paris City Hall. "They are simply asking for the law to be respected, to escape extreme poverty, and to access emergency accommodation. "The humanitarian situation there is deteriorating by the day." Dozens of families have been seen sleeping on the floor using tarpaulin sheets as roofs as part of the latest demonstrations in Paris. Nearly 300 migrants, mostly women and children, have been gathered since August 5. Those taking part are simply asking for shelter, according to Utopia 56 Paris. Pictures of the event show families taking shelter under the tarpaulin with some wrapped in blankets and others using sleeping bags. Many of them have packed up their belongings into plastic shipping bags. 8 Dozens of families have been seen sleeping on the floor using tarpaulin sheets as roofs as part of the latest demonstrations in Paris Credit: EPA 8 Nearly 300 migrants, mostly women and children, have been gathered outside Paris City Hall since August 5 Credit: EPA The makeshift tents are surrounded by metal gates with the sun beaming down on the migrants throughout the day. Nathan Lequeux, coordinator of the Utopia 56 association's Paris branch, told InfoMigrants: "We will not move until a lasting solution is found." The organisation has been handing out breakfast and lunch to those outside with the numbers of migrants increasing each day. About 90 children are outside the building with Utopia 56 counting more than 30 under three year olds. It comes as France has been battling with a major migrant issue in recent months. In July, French riot cops were attacked by a mob hurling rocks just yards away from the shore. The shocking clashes between migrants and cops were caught on camera while small fires are alight in the road near a park in Gravelines. Footage showed a group throwing rocks from afar in the direction of the officers in the northern coastal town early on Friday morning. It comes after a new migrant deal was agreed between the UK and France in a bid to tackle the small boats crisis. Last week, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed a one in, one out migrant returns deal in a bid to crack down on the crossings and the people smuggling gangs who operate them. But France will be able to choose which migrants to take back - prompting fears that the UK will be stuck with dangerous criminals. The details of each migrant selected for return will be given to France, allowing it to reject those with a criminal record or deemed a security risk. Both France and the UK will have a veto over which of the small boat migrants they take in. Britain will take into account if the migrants have a connection to the country and if they have lived here before. 8 Utopia 56 have been handing out breakfast and lunch to those outside Credit: EPA 8 Soaring temperatures have made the homeless struggle in the heat Credit: EPA
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Inside Paris's latest migrant camp
Advertisement Families have been seen sleeping on the floor beneath tarpaulin sheets outside the Paris City Hall as they await housing. Nearly 200 migrants, mostly women, children and families, have been gathered on the square in front of the building since August 5 amid a protest organized by the Utopia56 association. The French based humanitarian association claims the move's aim is to find the migrants shelter while condemning the 'increasingly aggressive' expulsions taking place in France since its 2024 Olympic Games. Images from the scenes show migrants with blankets and their belongings in plastic shopping bags as they sit under blue tarpaulin sheets. 'We will not move until a lasting solution is found,' Nathan Lequeux, coordinator of the Utopia56 association's Paris branch, told InfoMigrants . After nights in front of the town hall, wrapped in blankets and sleeping bags on the ground, the migrants, some of whom are legally resident in France, were seen shouting: 'We want housing! Zero children on the streets!' The association has been distributing breakfast to the people who had slept outside the city hall as the numbers of migrants began to increase. While some migrants left for work or for meetings in the capital, nearly 150 people remained in the square on Friday. The number had increased to 230 people on Saturday morning. 'We just finished distributing lunch, the temperatures are beginning to rise, and the most vulnerable people are already starting to suffer,' said Lequeux over the weekend. Among the people present in the square, 'nearly half are children,' he said, with 90 minors present in total. Of the 90 children present, Utopia56 counted 'thirty children under the age of three'. One family - Maria, her husband, and four-month-old daughter had been living on the streets for a month, reported AFP. 'We've had more and more single women in recent months, sometimes between 70 and 90 per evening. Now, it's mostly families,' said Lequeux. 'The numbers fluctuate and depend on how many people are end up on the streets.' There were also 11 unaccompanied minors among the group of migrants on the square, some of whom were young females who had previously been housed by Utopia56. But during the summer, the housing association loses two-thirds of its volunteers resulting in the closing of one of its main shelters, in Bagnolet, on the evening of August 5. 'Half of our solidarity accommodation area is made up of citizen hosts and it's the same thing for volunteers, they are absent and go on vacation. As a result, we lose around 60 accommodation places every night,' Lequeux explained. This lack of accommodation isn't spoken of 'as often in the summer as there are more children on the streets,' Eleonore Schmitt, a coordinator of the Collective of housing associations, told AFP. She also blamed budget cuts. 'The elimination of 6,500 accommodation places for asylum seekers, passed in the 2025 Finance Law, is having an impact on the ground.' A spokesperson for Paris City Hall said that it continues to open 'centers in both summer and winter to shelter people and their families.' 'In total, more than 1,000 people under state care are currently sheltering in converted municipal facilities or gymnasiums, in addition to the care of more than 3,000 people with families,' the city hall added Tuesday evening. It comes after French riot police clashed with migrants and their supporters in March after they cleared a Paris theatre that had been occupied by hundreds of homeless Africans. Violence broke out outside the Gaîté Lyrique – one of the French capital's most historic arts venues – soon after dawn on March 18. Mainly young men had been moving in since last December when the management gave them free tickets to a 'Refugees Welcome in France' conference. Performances were soon cancelled – losing the theatre thousands in revenue – as makeshift beds were placed around the stage and auditorium. By March 18, there were 446 people living inside illegally, most of them claiming they are minors under the age of 18 who deserve permanent housing. CRS (Republican Security Companies) officers armed with tear gas and batons gathered outside the theatre at 5am, and then moved in at 6am.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Inside Paris's latest migrant camp: Families sleep on the floor beneath tarpaulin sheets outside French capital's city hall as they wait to be given housing
Families have been seen sleeping on the floor beneath tarpaulin sheets outside the Paris City Hall as they await housing. Nearly 200 migrants, mostly women, children and families, have been gathered on the square in front of the building since August 5 amid a protest organised by the Utopia56 association. The French based humanitarian association claims the move's aim is to find the migrants shelter while condemning the 'increasingly aggressive' expulsions taking place in France since its 2024 Olympic Games. Images from the scenes show migrants with blankets and their belongings in plastic shopping bags as they sit under blue tarpaulin sheets. 'We will not move until a lasting solution is found,' Nathan Lequeux, coordinator of the Utopia56 association's Paris branch, told InfoMigrants. After nights in front of the town hall, wrapped in blankets and sleeping bags on the ground, the migrants, some of whom are legally resident in France, were seen shouting: 'We want housing! Zero children on the streets!' The association has been distributing breakfast to the people who had slept outside the city hall as the numbers of migrants began to increase. While some migrants left for work or for meetings in the capital, nearly 150 people remained in the square on Friday. The number had increased to 230 people on Saturday morning. 'We just finished distributing lunch, the temperatures are beginning to rise, and the most vulnerable people are already starting to suffer,' said Lequeux over the weekend. Among the people present in the square, 'nearly half are children,' he said, with 90 minors present in total. Of the 90 children present, Utopia56 counted 'thirty children under the age of three'. One family - Maria, her husband, and four-month-old daughter had been living on the streets for a month, reported AFP. 'We've had more and more single women in recent months, sometimes between 70 and 90 per evening. Now, it's mostly families,' said Lequeux. 'The numbers fluctuate and depend on how many people are end up on the streets.' There were also 11 unaccompanied minors among the group of migrants on the square, some of whom were young females who had previously been housed by Utopia56. But during the summer, the housing association loses two-thirds of its volunteers resulting in the closing of one of its main shelters, in Bagnolet, on the evening of August 5. 'Half of our solidarity accommodation area is made up of citizen hosts and it's the same thing for volunteers, they are absent and go on vacation. As a result, we lose around 60 accommodation places every night,' Lequeux explained. This lack of accommodation isn't spoken of 'as often in the summer as there are more children on the streets,' Eleonore Schmitt, a coordinator of the Collective of housing associations, told AFP. She also blamed budget cuts. 'The elimination of 6,500 accommodation places for asylum seekers, passed in the 2025 Finance Law, is having an impact on the ground.' A spokesperson for Paris City Hall said that it continues to open 'centers in both summer and winter to shelter people and their families.' 'In total, more than 1,000 people under state care are currently sheltering in converted municipal facilities or gymnasiums, in addition to the care of more than 3,000 people with families,' the city hall added Tuesday evening. It comes after French riot police clashed with migrants and their supporters in March after they cleared a Paris theatre that had been occupied by hundreds of homeless Africans. Violence broke out outside the Gaîté Lyrique – one of the French capital's most historic arts venues – soon after dawn on March 18. Mainly young men had been moving in since last December when the management gave them free tickets to a 'Refugees Welcome in France' conference. Performances were soon cancelled – losing the theatre thousands in revenue – as makeshift beds were placed around the stage and auditorium. By March 18, there were 446 people living inside illegally, most of them claiming they are minors under the age of 18 who deserve permanent housing. CRS (Republican Security Companies) officers armed with tear gas and batons gathered outside the theatre at 5am, and then moved in at 6am. 'There were immediate clashes with protesters who were shouting at them, and trying to stop them getting into the theatre,' said a local resident who was at the scene. 'Police responded with tear gas and baton charges, and there were some injuries.' A handful of migrants stood outside the theatre as the police arrived with suitcases in hand. Some 200 other agitators surrounded the theatre chanting 'shame on this government that wages war on vulnerable people'.
