Residents of a town in France staged protests against illegal aliens being allowed to squat in a home owned by local winegrowers, according to reports.
Multiple families from Bosnia have been illegally living in a house in the commune of Arcs-sur-Argens for months, despite court orders to vacate the premises.
The squatters have ignored directives, but authorities claim they can do nothing to enforce them because of a government decree to suspend all evictions until at least May 31 due to the 'COVID crisis.'
Depuis 7 mois, la maison de Jean-Philippe et Marie-Françoise Victor est squattée par une dizaine de clandestins.
— Tancrède ن (@Tancrede_Crptrs) April 17, 2021
La normalité : ces délinquants seraient déjà expulsés de la maison ET du pays
En France : ils sont protégés et les propriétaires subissent#LesArcs #ArcsSurArgens pic.twitter.com/7OF9Pnhcgs
The home was left vacant after the owner passed away last year.
Neighbors soon called the heir, Jean-Philippe Victor, to inform him the house had been broken into and occupied.
"We are powerless and we have no response from our authorities, from the people who govern us, from the people who lead us. There is a court decision, it is not applied, we do not understand," Victor told BFMTV.
"We still had the furniture, the family papers in the house, we don't know what happened to them. I saw that they have put in new furniture. They put my mother's old furniture outside in the garden. In the rain. My heart breaks for what it looks like inside."
The municipality has reportedly offered to house the illegal occupants elsewhere, but they refused.
A large group of local residents, led by populist politicians, staged a protest on Saturday in support of the Victor family.
#LesArcs Ce matin, plusieurs centaines de personnes manifestaient leur soutien à la famille Victor. Leur maison est toujours occupée illégalement après 7 mois de lutte.
— Leïla D (@DavaudL) April 17, 2021
À retrouver dans le journal @Var_Matin demain. pic.twitter.com/SMvIHp0IMW
Ce matin nous étions présents aux #ArcsSurArgens afin de soutenir les propriétaires de cette maison squattée illégalement !
— Frédéric BOCCALETTI 🇫🇷 (@Boccaletti83) April 17, 2021
Il est urgent que l'État fasse appliquer nos lois ! @RNVar_officiel @JLechanteux pic.twitter.com/52b2YCnI9c
"The judge ordered, in 2020, the eviction of the families installed illegally in our house and the prefect did not execute it. He did nothing," Victor said during the demonstration.
"So we are all here to show that we will not let go. That it can happen to any of us and that it is not normal that we are the ones paying the price while they are protected."
The Chauvin show trial lays the groundwork for dismantling the court system.
(PHOTO: Screenshot / Twitter)
