Communiqué by the General Practitioners’ Union: Against evictions at NDDL

Against the expulsions at Notre-Dame-des-Landes, the Syndicat de la Médecine Générale [General Practitioners’ Union] is mobilised! Since Monday 9 April, when the expulsions at the site of the ZAD at Notre-Dame-des-Landes began, members of the SMG have been present on the ground as part of a medical-aid collective along with the residents’ own “Medic” team. The collective’s purpose is to participate in providing care and serve as witnesses to any injuries to residents by the police/army. Despite the fact that discussions had begun to determine the future of the territory, after the abandonment of the airport project the government decided to conduct violent evictions at a number of living/working locales. These locales consist of alternative and collective habitat that is respectful of the fragile bocage environment, and some of them are conducting craft and agricultural projects that protect the biodiversity of the site and the health of all residents. The SMG condemns this violence on the part of the State, which refuses to tolerate any experiment with alternative, collective social organization based on solidarity. The ZAD, therefore, is not only the site of an abandoned airport project; it is also a place of social experimentation that is of benefit to all of society, including in the area of health care. As caregivers, we support this social struggle for the right to live differently.

Guillaume Getz, President - François Meure - Marie Kayser