“We need help.” Asylum-seekers protest shelter conditions, lack of housing options
A large protest about housing has shut down the area around the Portland Expo. Portland Police said Park Avenue was closed just after 7 a.m. and they were asking people to avoid the area. The road did reopen just before 9 a.m. as the protest moved to the sidewalk and some people left
By Adam Bartow
Click here for updates on this story
PORTLAND, Maine (WMTW) — A large protest about housing has shut down the area around the Portland Expo.
Portland Police said Park Avenue was closed just after 7 a.m. and they were asking people to avoid the area. The road did reopen just before 9 a.m. as the protest moved to the sidewalk and some people left, though police remained on scene.
Our crews at the scene say it is a large protest with people in the street and on the sidewalks. Many of the people protesting are asylum seekers currently staying at the Expo and say they are upset about the lack of housing options and the conditions inside the Expo.
People protesting, including children, tell Maine’s Total Coverage that many people are sleeping on the floor, that there is not enough food and that people are sick inside.
One protestor said “There are sick women here, like my mother – she has high blood pressure and [spinal} column problems. The bed they give us is not good, there are pregnant womans (sic) here, they are giving us expired food, expired food they are giving us”
Another protestor who did not want her name used is originally from Angola but has been living at the Expo for the last four months. “We are here protesting because we need help. We are in bad conditions. We sleep in bad conditions,” she told Maine’s Total Coverage. “Inside of shelter, we eat food expired. We eat in morning, afternoon, evening we eat sweets and sweets are expired. We have kids, babies who want to drink milk but we don’t have conditions to give them milk. And many days we don’t take a shower.”
One resident told Maine’s Total Coverage that six children have been born inside the Expo shelter but that they have not received enough food or proper care. Our crews did see babies at the protest Wednesday.
Another shelter resident said “I’m calling your compassion, you should be compassionate. you should show tolerance, you should show empathy, you should show love, that’s so important.”
Protestors told Maine’s Total Coverage that they planned to demonstrate again on Thursday starting at 6 a.m.
Many of the demonstrators were chanting and dancing and holding signs.
Hundreds of asylum seekers have been staying at an emergency shelter set up at the Expo since it opened on April 12 but the city stopped accepting new guests at the shelter on June 5. The shelter will close on Aug. 16 so that there is time for the Expo to be cleaned and restored before a scheduled event on Sept. 8.
The shelter has been pretty much at capacity since it opened and people protesting say they want to know where they are supposed to go when the shelter closes.
As of June 2, the shelter had served a total of 393 people, providing them with three meals per day. They had also been 336 medical screenings, 764 vaccines administered onsite with 352 registered volunteers and 15 different service providers offering assistance.
The city has said that they will spend the time before Aug. 16 finding housing options for the people living at the Expo.
City officials arrived at the Expo around 10 a.m. Wednesday and went inside to meet with asylum seekers and see the conditions. They spoke with the media after that 90 minute meeting. Click here to see what they said and how they reacted.
This story is developing. Stay with Maine’s Total Coverage for updates.
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