It was ten years ago. In Vernier, the Tattes asylum seekers’ home caught fire, killing a resident and injuring 40 people. 10 years later, the Solidarité Tattes association is still demanding justice and demanding solutions from the State for the victims who are still suffering in their flesh and in their lives.
The screaming and chaos outside. In the building, some residents of the home, trapped by the flames, will jump out of the window to try to save their lives. At the end of this tragic night of November 16 to 17, 2014, the toll of the tragedy was heavy: a man lost his life during the fire. 40 other residents were injured, some seriously.
10 years later, the Solidarité Tattes association commemorated this tragic disaster at the scene of the fire in the presence of two survivors who are now residents of Geneva.
Steve jumped from the top floor. Doctors have recognized him as 100% disabled, he is unable to work. But to receive disability insurance, you must have worked at least 3 years. Which is not the case for Steve. At 49 years old and holder of a B license, this father of three remains stuck in the hospice. But he continues his fight to be recognized by the AI. “I live with pain every day. The money the Hospice gives me today is not enough to support my three children and my wife. To obtain the AI, I fight, fought a lot and I continue to fight. But the answer is always no,” laments Steve.
Solidarité Tattes demands a dignified income for victims with precarious status
Aliou jumped from the 2nd floor: fractured spine, his back is paved with titanium. 50% disabled, he now holds an F license, without an AI pension for the same reasons as Steve. Despite his precarious physical condition, Aliou has to work as a doorman in a hotel. In the future, he would like to bring his daughter. But his F license does not authorize family reunification. He intends to be recognized as a victim and denounces the slowness of justice. “Even in Africa it’s not like that. I have never seen such justice, he said exasperatedly. Even in Africa and the corruption that reigns there, there is no justice as slow as this.”
For these two victims of the fire, the members of Solidarité Tattes are asking the state for tailor-made solutions to get them out of the impasse. “We are asking the canton to find a case of hardship for these people who do not meet the conditions to obtain AI or additional federal benefits so that they can access a dignified income,” explains Juliette Fioretta.
The Federal Court must decide the criminal proceedings
10 years after the events, the criminal proceedings linked to the Tattes fire are still ongoing, which does not make it possible to grant compensation to which the victims would be entitled. Convicted on appeal, the head of security at the applicants’ home as well as the security agents have since appealed to the Federal Court.
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