While the number of prisoners explodes in France with 79,631 in October for 62,279 places, the town of Donchery in the Ardennes will welcome within four years a innovative project intended to support prisoners towards their release but also to limit recidivism.
This unprecedented experiment in France is part of the “15,000 plan”, the ongoing construction program for 15,000 additional prison places. This is a penitentiary center called the InSERRE center which will be able to accommodate one hundred prisoners, eighty men and twenty women, sentenced to five years in prison or less and who are at the end of their sentence.. These voluntary prisoners will work or follow training in a company in the sector which has accepted the project. The objective stated by the Ministry of Justice is to make the detainee responsible by supporting him to prepare for his release, but also to facilitate compensation for victims through professional activity. The establishment will be located on the Ardennes Azur business park, near the center of the town, ” to keep this spirit of reintegration “, explains the mayor of Donchery Christian Welter.
“In the Nordic countries, this allows for a drastic reduction in recidivism”
When the call for projects was launched in 2020 to host this unique experiment in France, Donchery did not hesitate to stand as a candidate. “I am a retired doctor and I regularly work at the Charleville-Mézières remand center,” explains Christian Welter. “I can see that recidivism is impressive. These are often young people who leave without any training, without help and who return five times, ten times. It seemed completely abnormal to me and it's our role to do something. So this project seemed really interesting to me.”
“And this InSERRE center, which is experimental in France, is already well known in the Nordic countriesspecifies Christian Welter. This can drastically reduce recidivism.”
An economic opportunity for Donchery
For Donchery, this 50 million euro project, entirely financed by the State, is also a economic opportunity. “There are around a hundred workers who will work within the penitentiary center, who will earn a decent living and who will live in our living area, therefore who will bring economic developmentrejoices Christian Welter. Not to mention everything that will revolve around it for construction and all the services that will result from it in terms of commerce for example.”
Donchery also has a big medical house project with a sports-health center and a medico-social center and according to the mayor, the arrival of the InSERRE center could change the situation. “It has a significant cost and, without the arrival of the InSERRE center, it would not be feasible in our town of 2,000 inhabitants. If we size our health center to allow us to take care of patients from the InSERRE center, it is obvious that we will have additional subsidies and the communities will help us more easily.”
Construction work on the new InSERRE center in Donchery could begin in 2026, after appointment of the company responsible for the design and construction next spring. Initially planned for 2022 but ultimately postponed, the opening is now planned for 2027.
Two other InSerre centers should be opened in the coming years, in Arras and Toulwhere construction began last May.
To find out more: public meeting this Monday, November 4 at 8:30 p.m. at the Joséphine Baker cultural center in Donchery.
