Lausanne: folded thong, where are the marginalized people of Riponne?

One less piece of canvas, and she appears naked. Place de la Riponne has lost its “string”, while sanitation work is progressing rapidly in Lausanne. Le string? This large tarpaulin which has served as a makeshift shelter for marginalized people for more than ten years. It was dismantled a few weeks ago, after the demolition of the Brandy fountainremoving the bottom of the stairs of the Palais de Rumine and the destruction of public toilets which served as a drug store for the neighborhood’s drug addicts.

It is shortly before 3:30 p.m. on the Riponne this Tuesday afternoon. The injection room will soon open its doors. Its users are already crowding in front of the entrance. The neighboring construction site is noisy and dusty. It’s cold. The marginalized are conspicuously absent. “The City told them to sit there, in front of the blanket and sleeping bag lockers,” assures Noël. He’s been a regular here for years. A pillar.

In front of the blanket lockers

A local resident confirms: “We all received an email from the authorities to warn us that the thong marginals were moved here, but we don’t see them much. In any case, we know most of them and they are people who don’t cause any problems. Unlike the new ones.”

The new ones? “More aggressive, territorial and violent” young men who, according to her, arrive every morning from Annemasse, by the Léman Express. “By carloads.” They also stand in front of the famous lockers all day long. “We have to deal with them, and now the marginalized too. Not easy,” assures Noël.

Once the toilets have been destroyed and the thong removed, doesn’t the City fear a worsening of the situation in public spaces, in terms of illegal drug taking and insecurity?

“The work on the square has a strong impact for everyone, including consumers. Our priority is that they are welcomed in the branch of the secure consumption space of Riponne or that of Vallon,” declares Emilie Moeschler, municipal social cohesion. She ensures that she continues to closely monitor developments in the situation.

On the side of the municipal police, we explain the absence of the marginalized displaced a few meters from the string by the winter weather conditions. As for a possible increase in drug consumption in public spaces, after the demolition of public toilets, the police explain that they have paid particular attention to it.

“We have actually observed groups of people around the antenna of the secure consumption area, especially when the structure is closed. Every year during winter, we also see reports in places sheltered from the cold, such as parking lots or building entrances.”

Since summer 2014

It was not immediately possible to find a new location for the string, which concerns local residents. But the tarpaulin has not said its last word. Emilie Moeschler: “We are working, with our partners and in consultation with the neighborhood and the people concerned, on an alternative which could see the light of day as part of the temporary developments of the Riponne.”

It was in the summer of 2014 that the thong was developed for the marginalized people of Riponne. Until then, they occupied two benches at the exit of the M2. It owes its name to the triangular shape it originally had. A year later, the City decided to increase the size of the tarpaulin in order to prevent its users from “spreading” across the square.

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Laurent Antonoff has been a journalist in the Vaud section since 1990. After covering the Northern Vaud and Riviera regions, he joined the Lausanne editorial team at the turn of the millennium. A novelist in his spare time, he won the Berner Zeitung Local Journalism Prize in 1998.More info

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