After the tenants’ associations, those fighting against poor housing associated with the Syndicat de la magistrature, after the Defender of Rights, after the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights, it is the turn of the experts of the Organization of the United Nations (UN) to be concerned about the bill aimed at defending housing against illegal occupation, brought by the majority deputies Guillaume Kasbarian and Aurore Bergé and currently being examined in Parliament.
The UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, and the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Olivier De Schutter, have addressed the French government an official statement eight pages long, made public on Tuesday 4 April. “We warn of the regression that this bill represents, and of the risk that it will lead France to violate its international commitments”, summarizes Mr. De Schutter. If it is not exceptional for UN rapporteurs to transmit such a communication to a member country, it is, “to my knowledge, the first time that France has been contacted about a piece of legislation relating to housing”he says.
This letter mentions five particularly problematic points in the bill. First of all, the criminalization of the occupation of untitled housing: squatting in empty or disused buildings, including those intended for economic use, would expose you to two years in prison and a fine of 30,000 euros; the squat of residence, the only one which constitutes for the moment an offense, would be sanctioned by three years of prison and 45,000 euros, that is to say sentences three times heavier than currently. As for tenants who remain in their accommodation after an eviction procedure, they risk a fine of 7,500 euros.
“Increase homelessness”
According to the two rapporteurs, all these measures “present themselves as aiming to strengthen the rights of homeowners, while weakening” people already “particularly vulnerable”such as the victims of a false lease, an unauthorized sublease, “people who occupy unlicensed accommodation [squatteurs] failing to have access to housing” as well as “households failing to pay their rents” – 125,000 of the latter were targeted by deportation decisions in 2019, up 55% compared to 2001, insists the mail. However, in States parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, such as France, “Policies and legislation should not be designed to benefit already advantaged social groups, to the detriment of other social strata”, recall MM. Rajagopal and De Schutter. These latter “recommend” therefore to prepare, before the final adoption of the bill, “an in-depth impact study” on the profile and number of people likely to be affected.
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