"The state is absent, the state is greatly absent. We are very disappointed with the state. The city of Nantes is not doing enough, maybe, but it’s already a lot. Nantes cannot do everything for the state," Ploquin said.
READ MORE: French Min Collomb Meets With Calais Mayor, Hails Gains in Migration Situation
The AMSF member said that the police wanted the city mayor to order the expulsion of migrants from the streets of Nantes.
"The mayor, who has a strong sense of humanity, refuses the second evacuation … Evacuation is a game. They evacuate people, send them to camps and villages, and they return after, as it happened with Daviais square. It’s inadmissible not to care. It’s dishonest; it’s the position of an ostrich hiding its head in the sand," Ploquin said.
In August, Rolland wrote to French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe asking for the state’s assistance.
Some 600 migrants have been camping in the center of Nantes for months. In July, the police evacuated 450 people occupying the streets, but migrants keep coming back.
#Nantes Rassemblement devant le Tribunal administratif à l'appel de plusieurs associations de soutien aux migrants du Square Daviais. Le tribunal examine la demande d'expulsion du site formulée par la Ville de Nantes pic.twitter.com/BfaxwhgzmZ
— Télénantes (@telenantesinfo) September 19, 2018
On Monday, four non-governmental associations, including La Cimade and La Ligue des Droits de l'Homme (Human Rights League), summoned the regional authorities and the representatives of the French Office for Immigration and Integration (OFII) to the administrative court of Nantes to demand housing and better sanitary facilities for migrants currently sleeping on the streets of Nantes.
Un havre pour les migrants du square Daviais, à #Nantes: l'Autre Cantine, où bénévoles et exilés préparent ensemble 500 repas chaque soir… Reportage à venir pic.twitter.com/EWfx4CRD2x
— florence pagneux (@flonantes) September 18, 2018
