Marseille to ditch yellow triangle IDs following outrage

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Marseille to ditch yellow triangle IDs following outrage

Authorities in Marseille has been forced to srap a controversial initiative that saw homeless people handed ID cards with yellow triangles prompting critics to accuse authorities of implementing a “Nazi-style” scheme.

See earlier report:  French city under fire over Nazi-style ‘yellow triangle’ homeless badges

The uproar created by the initiative has led the authorities to ditch their plan.

The Local reported: Although the initiative was aimed at making it easier for health workers to know what they were dealing with in emergency situations, human rights groups and government ministers were equally outraged, comparing the cards to the Nazi-era yellow Star of David that was sewn onto Jewish people’s clothes during the Holocaust.

And the uproar put an end to the scheme on Friday when authorities in Marseille confirmed that they were scrapping the plan.

“It’s finished. There won’t be any more cards,” the head of the social and medical emergency services SAMU Sociale René Giancarli told The Local.

“We never meant to cause any harm or trigger a controversy, but it happened,” he said, adding the cards had been stopped on the orders of the city’s mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin.

Giancarli also said he could understand the criticism the initiative had gotten.

“We just wanted good to come out of this, but I made a mistake. I admit that and I can accept when I’m wrong.”