200 young homeless occupy Paris theatre

The cultural venue  La Gaité Lyrique has been paralysed for a week by a homeless sit-in.

The theatre has issued this statement:

 200 people from all walks of life and without housing solutions, grouped as the “collective of young people of the Parc de Belleville”, have occupied the spaces of the Gaîté Lyrique, a cultural venue of the City of Paris. The Gaîté Lyrique regrets the sudden and forced nature of this occupation, but recalls the legitimate nature of the collective’s demand to obtain a roof for these 200 people…

In the absence of any concrete rehousing proposal from the State and the City of Paris, it is unthinkable, at the risk of putting them in danger, to throw these people out onto the streets in December, when temperatures are around 0°.

Should we wait until the situation deteriorates further, or until there are victims, for this inaction by the competent and responsible authorities to cease?

Under these conditions, and unable to guarantee the smooth running of the event, the Gaîté Lyrique has decided to regretfully cancel the Marathon festival scheduled for this evening. The Gaîté Solidarity Christmas scheduled for today is also canceled. The teams are working hard to keep the venue open and maintain other activities.

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