Letter to the mayor concerning access to water

To Madame Natacha Bouchart,

Mayor of the municipality of Calais,

Place du Soldat Inconnu,

62100 CALAIS

Madam the Mayor,

I am contacting you as a resident of Calais to alert you of a lack of access to water. Currently, hundreds of exiled people live in the area located around Avenue Roger Salengro and Chemin de la Français in Calais (62100), including 32 minors. Until the 17th of December 2020, the inhabitants were provided with water and food by the association La Vie Active, mandated by the State. After the cessation of the water distribution by this association, the inhabitants of this place were forced to walk for 3 hours to reach the first available water point (Rue des Huttes in Calais), thus covering 7.5 kilometres round trip, i.e. a total of 15 kilometres to access drinking water.

Basic rights are not respected in Calais. Associations try to intervene to allow access to the basic needs of the inhabitants of the area, in particular those of the "Fort Nieulay" living area located on Avenue Roger Salengro, such as the Calais Food Collective project, which intervenes every day to allow access to water for its inhabitants.

In its opinion of 11 February 20211 , the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (CNCDH) denounced this insufficient access to essential services, particularly with regard to the effectiveness of access to water, and recommended that the existing system in Calais be reinforced.

I request this access to water for its different uses, as the administrative judge ordered the State and the town hall in 2017 to set up different devices in 2017 in the town of Calais: "The Prefect of Pas-de-Calais and the municipality of Calais are enjoined to create, in places easily accessible to migrants, [...], several water points allowing them to drink, wash themselves and their clothes, as well as latrines. It will be up to them to determine, in conjunction with the applicant associations, the number and precise location of these water points and latrines. They are also enjoined to organise, in conjunction with the applicant associations, a system of access to showers, [...] or any other fixed or mobile system that is deemed most appropriate, in a manner that must allow access, at an appropriate frequency, to the most vulnerable people. "

Moreover, the installation of a temporary above-ground device serving water close to where they live (less than 100 metres away) is an inexpensive and technically feasible action with few resources. This is a recommendation of the organization Solidarités International in their diagnostic report on the city of Calais.

I am waiting for your services to intervene quickly on this subject, so as to limit the consequences in terms of public health and public order that the absence of access to water generates, and I am at your disposal to discuss the practical details of the implementation of these devices.

Truly

1. https://www.cncdh.fr/fr/actualite/avis-sur-la-situation-des-personnes-exilees-calais-et-grande-synthe

Access to water is a fundamental right recognised for all . Municipalities must provide access to water, it is an obligation for them. I recall that the community of Calais and the Prefect of Pas-de-Calais have been condemned to provide sufficient water and sanitation services on several occasions by the Council of State.

2. Article L210-1 du Code de l’environnement.

3. Article L2224-7-1 du Code général des collectivités territoriales.

4. Conseil d’État, 15 décembre 2010, n°323250.

5. Conseil d’État, 31 juillet 2017, n°412125 et Tribunal Administratif de Lille, 31 juillet 2018, n°1806567.