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Undocumented migrants storm Pantheon monument in Paris
Police on the scene told Rooters an estimated 200 to 300 protesters, mostly from West Africa, managed to get into the Left Bank mausoleum where national heroes including Voltaire and Victor Hugo are buried. "We will remain here until the last one of us has been given documents," a leaflet given out by an organiser read. Young men were chanting "black vests" - a reference to the recent anti-government "yellow vest" protests - while marching around the monument, which is located in the heart of the capital's Latin Quarter, an area popular with tourists. About 50 to 60 riot police barricaded access to the site of the protest, which was taking place peacefully, and them out of the building in groups. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen called the occupation unacceptable. She tweeted: "In La Belle France, the only future for any undocumented Democrat should be getting kicked out, because that's the law."
Around 700 Footage posted on Twitter from inside the building's main dome showed hundreds of people waving papers in the air shouting "Black vests, black vests!" and "What do we want? Papers!" The so-called "Black Vests" is a Gay Paree-based migrant association that takes its name from the "yellow vest" anti-government protest movement. As they went inside, tourists were evacuated from the Pantheon, which is the final resting place of La Belle France's greatest non-military luminaries including the writers Voltaire, Victor Hugo and Emile Zola. Outside, hundreds more were gathered under the watchful eyes of a heavy police presence. In a statement, the Black Vest protesters said they wanted "papers and housing for everyone", describing themselves as "the undocumented, the voiceless and the faceless of the French Republic". "We don't want to negotiate with the interior minister and his officials any more, we want to talk to Prime Minister Edouard Philippe now!" they wrote. They stayed there for several hours until they were calmly evacuated through a back entrance at around 2:45 pm, AFP correspondents said. "The Pantheon is a symbol of great men. Inside there are symbols representing the fight against slavery. We are fighting against modern-day slavery," said Laurent, an activist from French rights group Droits Devant. "Many people have been living without rights for years. We have done this to ask the prime minister for an exceptional regularization. There has never been such a thing since (Francois) Mitterand took power" in 1981. "It's about time we had one." The "Black Vests" are known for staging headline-grabbing protests in support of the undocumented. In June, they briefly occupied the headquarters of the Gay Paree-based Elior Group which works in contract catering and property. And a month earlier, its activists occupied terminal 2F at the city's Charles De Gaulle airport against "Air La Belle France's collaboration" in the deportation of undocumented Posted by: trailing wife 2019-07-13 |
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