04.07.2014 Reims: two squats were evicted

Livoreil (2014) provides information about the eviction of two occupied houses in Reims, which were inhabited by immigrant Rroma. Following a court order, about twenty people were evacuated from the two buildings. The eviction was not primarily political, but legally motivated, as the assistant of the mayor states: “Apparently, the action executed yesterday followed a legal agenda and was not strictly political. The assistant to the mayor, responsible for the security, Xavier Alibertini, announced: “This eviction will not be followed by more.” In Reims, there are half a dozen occupied homes, of which most are located in the city centre. These are identified by social workers who are in daily contact with the most precarious of the precarious” (Livoreil 2014). A community organization, commissioned by the government of Reims in 2013, takes care of the integration of inhabitants of the occupied houses. Several people were already provided with jobs and for four family flats could be organised. It should be stressed here once again that the French press reports in a highly one-sided way about Rroma in France. About 100,000 to 500,000 Rroma living in an integrated way is never reported (Rroma Foundation 2014). The focus lies solely on the recently immigrated Rroma living in slums.