in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, employees escorted by security guards to public transport

Employees of companies in the Millénaire professional district, located in Aubervilliers in the north of Paris, come across crack users morning and evening, but also migrants, sometimes violent. A daily ordeal, fear in my stomach, so much so that around twenty security agents were mobilized on site from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. The main anxiety of hundreds of employees who come to work: the journey from public transport to their office.

“We are always in a group”

From the tram to the gleaming business premises, passing over the ring road, it's around 700 meters of daily anxiety. “There is the footbridge, there is this passage with the trees… There is a population approaching to ask for money or something else”, “those who are half naked”, “that's fear”, “when leaving the premises, we are always in a group”, confide these women interviewed by Europe 1.

“They are not conscious”

They are never alone and rely on security guards. “I had the misfortune of taking out my pack of cigarettes, I was followed and it was the security guards who had to defend me and accompany me to one end of the footbridge”, “it happened very quickly, he came at me, but it was more physical than verbal, the security guards intercepted him very quickly, so he didn't have time to do much but if he had time, he would have done something,” continue two other women.

Suddenly, two ragged men run past. Migrants, crackers, or both… The security guard can only note their presence and confirms that the neighborhood is agitated. “They are not conscious, they come from everywhere…” whispers one of them. The employees risk suffering for a long time to come; the neighboring park is closed by the Paris town hall, as if abandoned to its worrying squatters.