Statement from the women of Boulevard Hugo 51

This is what the women living in Boulevard Hugo 51 say, most come from Eritrea and Ethiopia :

We don`t have any place to sit, to live or to have a rest, we have nothing. So we want to stay here. We want to have the chance to stay here.

We left our country to search for freedom and now we are still afraid. Until when are we going to be scared? We have no freedom here, its a cat and a rat game, we are always running, running, running. We came to Europe for freedom, but where is it?

We came over the sea, from Sudan to Lybia and than to Italy, we have been escaping from the beginning of our journey. We didnt leave because of economic reasons, we had food and shelter, some of us were going to university, but women and men have to go to the military service for two years, which can be changed to an illimitated amout of time.

We have no choice. And we are afraid of it. We left and we never have the chance to go back. If we go back we have to go to jail or even get killed. We are looking for freedom, the journey was very dangerous. In Lybia for example there is a lot of racism for example, a lot of african have been killed. And now we are here in Europe and play the cat and rat game. Everytime we see the police, we run away. Is it because we are „illegal“ or is it because we are black? Why people treat us like that? Some of us thought about staying in France, but after what they lived, they don`t see freedom here. They don`t want to live in racism again. They came for freedom, not for this. More than anything freedom is important, more than food or shelter. One of us got beaten by the police and than they put here in the garbage. An other one of us has been driven far away from Calais in the middle of the night. For what reason?

We don`t have any other place than this house, if we loose it, we will be in the street, we want to have the chance to stay here!