“I’m not asking for much, just a place to sleep and cook to regain some independence.” Mr. E, as our colleagues at France 3 call him, would like to find a roof over his head.
“We couldn’t leave him outside anymore”
This 56-year-old man is seriously ill. Suffering from cancer, he is currently undergoing palliative chemotherapy at the hospital in Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin). Recently, he was taken in by the association Les Petites roues who learned that he was going to sleep outside: “The association’s finances are in the red, but we decided to pay for a hotel room for him last Friday, we couldn’t leave him outside any longer”explains Sabrine Carriou, president of the association.
Also read: Their house has been built, the builder realizes that he has chosen the wrong land
Arriving in France in March 2023, this Georgian was housed in a CADA (migrant reception center) but the refusal of his asylum application automatically expelled him from it: “A request for a residence permit for health reasons has been made for him. It is a request for a sick foreigner, it is in progress, but the response could take months.”
Yet time is running out: “On March 7, 2024, a doctor from the Hautepierre Hospital wrote a certificate indicating an urgent need for medical care. He indicated that remaining on the street would compromise the patient’s short-term vital prognosis.”specifies the president.
“My health is not improving”
However, this letter to the social structures did not find a taker. Because in Strasbourg, there is a shortage of places: “A hotel with a bunk bed (top seat) was offered to him, but he no longer has the strength to climb. At the Remparts accommodation, everyone has to leave at 8 a.m., and he can’t get up every day when he’s in too much pain.”
The fifty-year-old is patient, but the situation is getting worse: “My health is not improving but I remain hopeful.” Especially since, even if he assures that he does not want to complain, even the hotel room he is currently occupying is not adapted to his pathology.
One solution would be to place someone in the LAM (medicalized reception bed) system, and that is what the association is trying to do, but time is running out. Especially since Mr. E is not the only one in this situation: “We are aware of about ten serious situations like this in Strasbourg at the moment. We find ourselves completely helpless in the face of their distress, which is also psychological.”
Learn more…
