Strasbourg Authorities To Sue French Government For 'Failed' Migration Policy - Mayor

Strasbourg's city administration is set to sue the French government for failing to address the issue of migrant accommodation after the country demanded that the city's authorities house refugees that live in a tent camp in the downtown area, Strasbourg's mayor, Jeanne Barseghian, said on Monday

PARIS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th December, 2022) Strasbourg's city administration is set to sue the French government for failing to address the issue of migrant accommodation after the country demanded that the city's authorities house refugees that live in a tent camp in the downtown area, Strasbourg's mayor, Jeanne Barseghian, said on Monday.

"Municipal funds are not enough to get out of this plight and resolve this humanitarian catastrophe. Providing shelters is the task of the state, but it is inactive, so I decided that the city will initiate a lawsuit against the state in order to hold it accountable for non-fulfillment of obligations, for this failure," French daily Figaro quoted the mayor as saying at a press conference.

Barseghian called on all lawmakers and associations to join the lawsuit. In addition, the mayor rebuked French President Emmanuel Macron for not fulfilling the promise of his 2017 election campaign, when he declared that "not a single person will remain on the street.

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"Our model has outlived itself. France is experiencing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, when in all major cities there are hundreds of people, including the sick and children, that live on the street - in the cold, without rights, without access to health care," the mayor added.

Last week, the Strasbourg Administrative Court ordered the administration to evacuate a migrant tent camp located in the city within three days. Since spring, from 50 to 200 migrants have lived in the camp, mainly immigrants from Georgia, Albania and Macedonia. Some of them were placed in a gymnasium nearby, while others occupied abandoned houses or were sheltered by local residents. The city's prefecture refused to take over the evacuation of the camp, citing the fact that it is an obligation of the city administration.