The liberal Gaîté Lyrique theatre in Paris hosted a "Reinventing the welcome for refugees in France" conference on December 10, featuring talks from academics from top universities and Red Cross officials," the Daily Mail reports. The African migrants were enthusiastically welcomed by activists upon arrival, however when the event was done they refused to leave.
The theatre, owned by Paris's Socialist-led council, is still occupied as of Tuesday, January 14, and its management has reported that more migrants have shown up to live in the building, increasing the total number of occupants to around 300. It is now facing bankruptcy as it has gone weeks without revenue from ticket sales and has been forced to cancel all shows until at least January 24th.
Management called on local authorities to help find a different housing situation for the migrants. "The sanitary conditions are deteriorating day after day and the teams are facing this situation alone," it stated. "Although this occupation is forced, it is unthinkable for the Gaîté Lyrique to throw these people out onto the street in the middle of winter."
One of the managers who is the daughter of Algerian migrants herself stated "They are ruining my business."
"They hang around outside my terrace, smoking joints and fighting among themselves. Not only do we no longer get theatregoers because the theatre is shut but we don't get passers-by either. They're being frightened away by all these young men," she said.
The Paris council claimed they could not find any other housing options for the migrants and called on the French government to deal with the migrants, however President Emmanuel Macron and his cabinet reportedly ignored the request and do not wish to get involved.
The migrants have all claimed to be unaccompanied minors under the age of 18, however many are known to local authorities who have refuted this. "This is an illegal occupation of a building by recognised migrants," the regional authorities said in December.
