The building in the trendy 10th arrondissement of Paris was in the process of being converted into a third branch of the popular Cambodian restaurant Le Petit Cambodge when it was squatted three months ago.
The occupiers claimed their actions were targeting symbols of “gentrification,” denouncing how “luxury and bohemian restaurants” had overtaken the area, pushing up rents and forcing others to move.
Rapidly rising rents, for both commercial and domestic property, has been a problem in Paris for several years, with families increasingly being priced out of the city and moving out to the cheaper suburbs.
But the owners of the restaurant said they were in fact a small, local chain, based in the neighbourhood, and had already begun renovating the property ready for when restaurants will be allowed to reopen.
The court's decision of “immediate expulsion”, issued on January 4th, ordered the squatters to leave the premises within 48 hours.
The court also ruled that the squatters would have to pay €153 for each day of their occupation in damages. The squatters took over the establishment on November 14th 2020.
The squatted establishment was supposed to become the third Le Petit Cambodge restaurant, the other two also in the same neighbourhood.
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