"we have no respect" : Dominique Farrugia talks about the lack of accessibility for people with disabilities in France (VIDEO)

This is a powerful testimony shared by Dominique Farrugia. On Wednesday, April 26, the person who is part of the cult comedians Dummies group was present on set. It’s up to you at 6^to National Conference of the Disabled on the Elysée. Thereupon, Emmanuel Macron announced that the State will allocate a total of 1.5 billion euros to improve the accessibility of public spaces in France for people with disabilities. The President also announced that the wheelchair reimbursement will expire from 2024.

Measures that directly concern 14.1% of the French population, as 7.6 million people over the age of 15 are disabled in the country, according to the latest figures released by the Office for Research, Labor, Evaluation and Statistics (DREES). Dominique Farrugia has multiple sclerosis and has been in a wheelchair for five years. Confronted with Anne-Élisabeth Lemoine, now 60, the man regretted the conditions in which people with disabilities lived in France:I was disabled for over 10 years, but it was not obvious. I had multiple sclerosis and didn’t talk about it. I was afraid of losing my job. Are many people like this? They do not have the capacity to go more than 30 meters, more than 40 meters. They don’t talk about it and they don’t show it. They are obliged to take out the disabled card in order to pass through the place where the disabled pass. That’s the problem, we no longer have respect today. In France nothing is done, nothing is done.“

Later, Dominique Farrugia regretted that the public authorities did not take any concrete action: “No will to force. There is no political will to say “Enough, keep going”. (…) There is a kind of stupid blindness. Today we are faced with a state that wants to do something but doesn’t really do it because it doesn’t go all the way.The director then took his case as an example to illustrate the backwardness of France in many ways: “It makes me rebel. Happened to me once. I was voting in the 16th district. The elevator in the town hall was broken, I couldn’t vote… I couldn’t vote, it’s driving me crazy! I’m a privileged person, I earn well, I have a job, it’s great. I think of others and it’s terrible !”

Therefore, Dominique Farrugia asked the French State to take concrete steps, especially on affirmative action in the workplace: “Everyone has the right to have a job. We finally have people who can work in wheelchairs. Why shouldn’t they have access to work? Often times this is because the office is inaccessible!” Note that in Paris, only Line 14 of the subway is fully accessible to people with reduced mobility, which represents only 3% of the Ile-de-France network. For comparison, Boris Johnson, mayor of London from 2008 to 2016 made the British capital accessible, especially because of the 2012 Olympic Games.

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