A Paris theatre is on the brink of bankruptcy after it threw open its doors to 250 migrants for a free event five weeks ago.
Paris’s Gaité Lyrique theatre, known for its radical shows and exhibitions, has been occupied by migrants since December 10 after they refused to leave following a free conference on “reinventing the refugee welcome in France”.
More than 200 migrants showed up to the event, whose speakers included Red Cross officials and eminent academics.
But when the conference was finished, the migrants, who mainly come from France’s former west African colonies, refused to leave the venue.
Their numbers have swelled to around 350 and the 19th century venue is now on the verge of bankruptcy due to cancelled events.
The occupation has forced the cancellation of all performances until January 24. A theatre spokesperson estimated the financial impact at “several hundred thousand euros in direct losses” reports the Daily Mail.
Every night the migrants make their presence be known by chanting through megaphones and banging drums.
Last night, they chanted: “We’re all equal, not illegal” and, “We’re fed up with the police, we want liberty, equality, fraternity.”
The migrants occupying the theatre all arrived in France claiming to be aged under 18, meaning they would be considered unaccompanied minors and given the right to be housed and helped by local authorities.
But local officials have insisted that they are adults and that most are known to the authorities and had been sleeping on the streets before entering the theatre.
“This is an illegal occupation of a building by recognised migrants,” the regional authorities said in December.
Photos from inside the theatre show hundreds of migrants sleeping on furniture while they charge phones and use the theatre’s facilities.
Mamadou Pathe Barry, who is also from Guinea-Conakry and claims he is 16, said he had been sleeping in a tent by the Pont-Marie bridge in central Paris when he received a call from a migrant charity telling him to come to the Gaité.
“It’s better than the street but it’s crowded in there and there are no showers and few toilets. For now I’m not moving.”
The situation has become a headache for Paris’s Socialist-led council who owns the building. The council claims it has looked for accommodation for the migrants but that none was available.
It has called for the government to deal with the problem, but President Macron’s centrist cabinet is said to have ignored the request and is reluctant to get involved in the debacle.
