Disabled French Economic Pawns

Disabled French Economic Pawns

UNAPEI, a French organisation run by families of people with intellectual disabilities, delivers today a black book to the French Social Security to denounce the exile of disabled French citizens placed in Belgium institutions. The distance of the placement makes visiting with family nearly impossible. The situation is not new having been denounced already in 1977. It has been defended with the argument that the cost was lower to place people in Belgium rather than in France. This is no longer the case, but even when it was cheaper, would other citizens be treated as economic pawns?

You can read the UNAPEI’s article in French here.

4 Comments

Michael Holden

October 20, 2015, 11:53 am

That seems extraordinary. Unfortunately I am unable to read the document in French, but the extract is hard enough to believe.

Zig Blanquer

October 29, 2015, 10:08 pm

Please note, we must point out that France is an extremely institutionalist countries (see the report of ENIL). Institutions are constantly created, other alternatives to independence are poorly designed, thoughts. I doubt that UNAPEI think about other ways that the very official/state institutionalization. The exile that is evoked is because of institutionalization, for example the notion of personal assistant is never mentioned.
The fact that UNAPEI speaking is always by parents before disabled people themselves is not something very liberating. ENIL doesn’t now support institutionalizing and ableist organizations? 🙂

Zig Blanquer

Dilyana Deneva

October 30, 2015, 10:08 am

Thank you for your comment, Zig. ENIL definitely supports DEinstitutionalization! 🙂

Zig Blanquer

October 30, 2015, 1:46 pm

I hope so;) and this is why I support EN/IL.
By cons, here, maybe pay attention to the information you submit in a language and above all with a political culture not necessarily accessible in english. Because France is very far away, but so far, of deinstitutionalization… There is such a hypocrite concept in France, supposedly of independence: what I call « institutionalization at home ». Willingly to expose it a day with a luxury of time. 🙂

Zig Blanquer
French National Coordinator Freedom Drive 2009

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