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Paris’ Gaite Lyrique theatre was long famed for staging operettas by Offenbach and was seen as a jewel in the French capital’s cultural crown.
But on Wednesday night, the can-can had been replaced by the clatter of tam-tams as migrants chanted through megaphones on the steps of the 19th-century edifice, shouting: “Shame on this power who declares war on unaccompanied minors.”
Rather than crates of champagne, helpers carried boxes of fruit and vegetables into the theatre while volunteer doctors offered medical care in an outdoor tent.
For the past five weeks, the migrants have been occupying the Gaite.
It all started when left-wing management staged a free conference on “reinventing the refugee welcome in France” on December 10.
However, when the event, whose speakers included Red Cross officials and eminent academics, came to a close, the migrants refused to leave and have been occupying the building since.
People attend an occupation action in the Gaite Lyrique cultural centre by the Parc de Belleville Youth Collective for housing unaccompanied minors in exile in Paris on December 11. Photo / AFP
Their numbers have swelled to around 350 and the venue, a digital arts and contemporary music hub, is now on the verge of bankruptcy due to cancelled events.
The migrants were led to the building in the 3rd arrondissement by activists even more left-wing than the theatre’s management and who now view the occupation as a rallying point for their “anti-racist and anti-colonial struggle”.
They call themselves the Collectif des Jeunes du Parc de Belleville, named after a Parisian park in which they camped at one point.
Every day they hold general assemblies and stage nightly demonstrations, banging drums outside the theatre and chanting through megaphones.
On Wednesday, they chanted: “We’re all equal, not illegal” and, “We’re fed up with the police, we want liberty, equality, fraternity.”
Spokesman Abdulay, a Guinean, said: “More people are arriving every day. We’re staying until alternative accommodation can be found by authorities. If that happens, we’ll leave straight away. We need shelter for these people who don’t want to sleep rough in this freezing weather.”
The migrants occupying the theatre all arrived in France claiming to be aged under 18, which would give them the right to be housed and helped by local authorities.
People gather in front of the Gaite Lyrique, and isolated minors hold a banner with the words NO MORE NIGHTS OUT FOR ISOLATED MINORS on it, in a demonstration of support and to require immediate accommodation for the isolated minors occupying the Gaite Lyrique in Paris. Photo / AFP
But officials deemed them adults and most were sleeping rough before being directed to the Gaite Lyrique by the activists.
“Most people here are youths who have been subjected to age assessments that are totally inadequate,” said Abdulay. “Officials refuse to declare them minors or adults so they are in a no man’s land with no rights and end up in the street. Appeals take up to a year.”
Volunteer medics from the Medicins du Monde charity have set up a tent outside. “There’s a doctor who comes here to do on-call duty, but if they’re sick, they can’t even go to the hospital to get treatment,” said Abdulay.
Alya, who is from Guinea-Conakry and said he was 16, said: “I’m happy to have a roof over my head. It’s not comfortable and we have no mattresses but it’s better than being outside.”
Mamadou Pathe Barry, who is also from Guinea-Conakry and claims he is 16, said he had been sleeping in a tent by the Pont-Marie bridge in central Paris when he received a call from a migrant charity telling him to come to the Gaite.
“It’s better than the street but it’s crowded in there and there are no showers and few toilets. For now, I’m not moving.”
The presence of the migrants, mainly from France’s former West African colonies such as Ivory Coast and Guinea, has put the establishment’s directors and Paris’ Socialist-led council, which owns the building, in a moral quandary.
With all performances cancelled until January 24, the theatre’s income – 70% of which comes from ticket sales and 30% from subsidies – has ground to a halt and it is struggling to pay its 60-odd employees.
On the other hand, it refuses to evict them. While deploring “the sudden nature of this occupation” it would be “unthinkable for the Gaite Lyrique to throw these people out on to the street in the middle of winter”, it said in a statement.
That led right-leaning Europe 1 radio to accuse theatre management of suffering from Stockholm syndrome – where victims develop positive feelings towards their captors.
For the past five weeks, the migrants have been occupying the Gaite. Photo / AFP
The town hall, for its part, has said it can find no alternative accommodation for the migrants and has passed the buck to the Government. However, President Macron’s minority centrist Cabinet has also failed to act.
While the ambience is mostly raucous and festive, tensions are rising and fights have broken out, according to witnesses who spoke to the Telegraph. Their concerns echo a wider national debate over immigration and France’s colonial past.
Elia, 38, manager of the next-door Bistrot De La Gaite, said custom had plummeted by 80% since the start of the occupation and she had lost €40,000 ($73,536) in revenue. Normally the place is humming with customers who pop in for a glass of wine before a show and a filet au gratin dauphinois afterwards.
“It’s a catastrophe,” she told the Telegraph, “I have a high rent due to my position, three children and six employees. Are the Gaite or town hall going to compensate me for all the lost custom?
“Yesterday morning at 9am, there was a fight and one migrant lunged at the other with scissors. People are afraid to come. In the evening it’s full of people smoking dope. They’ve taken over the park opposite and chased away the kids. Women skirt the area.
“I’ve spoken to security guards inside the building. Even they are getting scared. It’s getting out of control.
“I’m from a family of Algerian emigres and my husband is Malian. I have nothing against welcoming immigrants. France has the means but not here. There are two toilets for 350 people and no showers. It’s totally unsuited.
“I blame the Gaite Lyrique. They invited them in and refuse to file a complaint to have them removed and now they moan about losing money.”
Michel Possompes, 80, a retired architect who lives nearby, shook his head as he walked past the building, which overlooks a quaint Parisian square with a children’s playground, boules court and a monument to French victories in the Crimean War.
“I don’t understand why they haven’t been thrown out yet. What the hell are Rachida Dati [the Culture Minister] and Anne Hidalgo [the mayor] waiting for?
“It infuriates me. If these people need help, put them somewhere else. There are a thousand free industrial wastelands everywhere.
“These migrants are being manipulated by activists. They don’t even know what this theatre is. They all claim to be minors but we can see that most are clearly adults.”
This is by no means the first Parisian cultural centre to be occupied in recent months. Others include the Maison des Metallos, a cultural centre in the 11th arrondissement that was occupied during the Olympic Games. Eventually, migrants left when offered temporary housing elsewhere.
The Collectif du Parc de Belleville insists its militant action pays. “We’ve succeeded in getting housing for 800 young migrants in the past year but without occupying venues and pressuring authorities, nothing happens,” a member told the Telegraph, which was barred from entering the Gaite Lyrique.
Built in 1862 and housing a richly decorated 1800-seat hall, majestic entrance, and large public foyer, the theatre was famed for staging Offenbach operettas and also hosted Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes troupe in the 1920s.
Popular in the 1970s, it fell into disrepair and was bought and restored by the town hall and turned into a culture centre with a left-wing agenda.
Its latest workshop is called “The Migration Fresco” and aims to “change people’s viewpoint” on migration. It was due to run until January 15 but has been cancelled due to the occupation.
With media attention snowballing, the Paris town hall has finally launched an eviction procedure but for now the occupation continues and a sign outside says the Gaite remains closed “until further notice”.
