The town of Rochefort (Charente-Maritime) was in the running for the prize for the worst anti-homeless device in the “Move from there” category. It was selected by the Abbé-Pierre Foundation which organized the third edition of the Pics d'Or, Monday November 18, 2024 in Paris, explains South West. But, it was Calais which was declared the winner.
In July 2024, the municipality of Rochefort issued an order to prohibit people from panhandling, lying down, sitting for a long time in six streets in the city center, from July 4 to 1is September and from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. A text in the name of “the free movement of pedestrians, tranquility, good public order and public hygiene”remind our colleagues.
“Denounce this injustice”
On its website, the Abbé-Pierre Foundation points out that it “alert on the installation of anti-homeless devices, which are multiplying everywhere in France”. She denounces the creation of “peaks, bars, grills, rocks, anti-begging, anti-bivouac orders”. She believes that these devices “prevent the most deprived people from sheltering or taking a little rest while making them invisible and pushing them ever further away from city centers”.
Christophe Robert, general delegate of the Foundation, specified that the Foundation “once again resorts to satire to better denounce this injustice of which the most fragile among us are victims”. The list of winners has been published online.
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