Far-left activists in France took radical action on Saturday by breaking into and occupying a private residence in order to house asylum seekers.
Members of the Maison du Peuple (People’s House) organization requisitioned the property near to the Grand-Blottereau park in the western city of Nantes, claiming they had been left with no other option after authorities failed to respond to their concerns about the shortage of temporary housing available to asylum seekers.
The private residence belongs to an elderly couple, aged 87 and 89 years old, who are currently under guardianship in a care home, and is therefore unoccupied.
In a statement posted on the organization’s Twitter account, Maison du Peuple claimed to have waited for weeks without a response from authorities about their concerns for the well-being of new arrivals to the area.
“Urgency is facing us. We have seen too many people die on the streets. So what should we do?” the statement read.
The organization accused the state of choosing to spend “exorbitant sums” on private security firms and anti-squat devices rather than provide a place of shelter to the increasing number of asylum seekers and economic migrants in the city. It also claimed the direct action taken on Saturday was not a “choice” but a “necessity.”
“It is the only way for us to act and provide an answer to these families abandoned by the authorities.
“It is for this reason, and for lack of other choices, that despite our reluctance, we now occupy a private house, empty and abandoned for more than a year,” they added.
Following the illegal requisition of the property, two Syrian families and a Congolese family with three children have since moved into the elderly couple’s home.
Speaking to the Ouest France news outlet, the grandson of the homeowners expressed his dismay and anger at the action taken, and revealed he had filed a complaint with the authorities.
He called the move an “unacceptable, illegal situation” and questioned whether the rule of law still applied in France.
“Should we be able to execute justice ourselves?” he asked, claiming that “the inaction of the public authorities and illegal takeovers by militant associations can lead to real tragedies.
“An association does not have the right to substitute public authorities and requisition housing. They also unconsciously endanger the people they want to relocate.
“We deplore the situation of people without housing, but force must remain with the law
,” he added.