At the end of July, five families, including 5 women and 7 children aged 18 months to 16 years, from Georgia, Ivory Coast and Angola, judged to be in an irregular situation, were notified by the prefecture of the end of their care. their emergency accommodation at SIAO/115 by the end of August, and therefore the possibility of being expelled.
Very quickly a collective of around ten associations (RESF23, LDH Guéret-Creuse, Peace Movement, Catholic Relief of Creuse, Popular Relief of Creuse, Amnesty International Creuse, A key to success, La Cimade, Family Planning of Creuse, 1,2,3 Parents, Mountain Home Solidarity, FCPE) supported by several unions and political parties (CGT 23, FSU 23, Environmentalists 23, rebellious France 23, NPA23, PCF 23, PS 23, PRG 23), was formed to support them. Gatherings were organized every Tuesday at 6 p.m., in front of the prefecture, from the announcement of these potential expulsions and until 1is october. Appeals to the Limoges Administrative Court were filed and the end of care was suspended for two families. To date, the latter have been able to remain in their accommodation. Two other families were able to be relocated to Guéret, thanks to the municipality. The fifth person, a single woman, was also able to be relocated.
The municipal council of Guéret and the Association of Mayors of Creuse unanimously voted for a motion requesting their regularization. An open letter signed by many elected officials was delivered to the prefecture. Each gathering brought together between 80 and 150 people. Despite this, the prefect turns a deaf ear, cowardly hiding behind “the application of the law”. These people received, she said, a notification ofOQTF (Obligation to leave the territory) for several weeks and therefore knew that they had to leave, they should have “organized”. Magnanimously, she offered them to benefit from the “voluntary return to the country” system… How could this return be voluntary? When we leave, often at the risk of our lives, our native land, our family, our friends, our roots, it is not out of pleasure, but out of necessity. I don't have the slightest idea of the reasons, all personal, which pushed these people to leave their countries, and I don't need it to show them all my support. They built, or rebuilt, a whole life in Guéret. Their children go to school there, the youngest was even born there. They themselves are involved in local and associative life, and would work to provide for the needs of their families if they were allowed to do so by granting them a residence permit. Our towns and villages, the whole country, are aging. Our schools are threatened with closure. There are – it seems – not enough young people to work and contribute to pay for the retirement of the elderly – the argument justified pension reform. And the prefect, and the entire government behind her, wants to throw people who want to live here outside our sacrosanct borders? Beyond all these arguments, anyone wishing to settle permanently in our territory and participate in its life should be welcome. Not because he or she can be useful, but out of humanity.
These five families being temporarily sheltered, and their support very demanding, the weekly gatherings are temporarily suspended, but this does not mean the end of the mobilization. Procedures are still underway. Solidarity continues to organize itself to accompany and support them in their efforts, their travel, to provide for certain needs (hygiene products, children's sports licenses, transport, tax stamps – 50 euros per stamp for a request for residence permit; more than 200 euros to collect the permit if it is granted, etc.) not covered by the state, even for families who still benefit from support. A petition and a fundraiser are online, a support committee* has been created, and the gatherings will resume at the slightest alert.
A reception network for minors
In certain exchanges with the prefecture, the latter sometimes mentioned around twenty, or even thirty, other families who could also soon “benefit” from a “voluntary return to the country”… Moreover, it appeared that when While they wait for the judge's “verdict” regarding the recognition of their minority, unaccompanied minors are thrown onto the street and not kept sheltered. RESF23 is therefore seeking to establish a network of families to welcome these young people for at least a few months…
Immigration laws continue to tighten under successive governments, from the right to the left, and it is not likely to get better under the Barnier government. Instrumentalizing the murder of the young Philippine student, whose first suspect is a Moroccan already convicted of rape and under arrest OQTFBruno Retailleau summoned around twenty prefects at the end of September to ask them to expel more and regularize less. And it is perhaps not insignificant that this wave of expulsions began this summer, just after the legislative elections, while Creuse passed into the hands of the RN–LR… Fascism is on the march at all levels. Against hatred and fear, let us oppose fraternity, sorority and solidarity.
*To join the support committee: [email protected] – www.creusesolidarites.wordpress.com
First support committee event SATURDAY 16 NOVEMBER in Guéret:
The Creuse Solidarités community and citizen support committee is organizing its 1is event on SATURDAY 16 NOVEMBERfrom 4 p.m. to 1 a.m., at the Grande Salle de Guéret (town hall, rue de la République), as part of the La Cimade Migrant'scène Festival: FREE ! Scene of support for migrants, and launches a APPEL TO ARTISTES from the region (and elsewhere): ARTISTES of all kinds, join the support committee and participate in this first event (and the following ones)! Let us demonstrate through the arts that solidarity resonates louder than hatred, fear or indifference! Show, entertainment and snack from 4 p.m.; festive evening from 7 p.m., including a “solidarity cabaret”.
press release:
Petition POUR the regularization of these families : https://www.change.org/p/oui-%C3%A0-la-r%C3%A9gularisation-pour-5-familles-du-d%C3%A9partement-de-la-creuse?recruiter=31609799&recruited_by_id=777088f0-fa5d-012f-816e-40401bfb750c&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_medium=copylink&utm_content=cl_sharecopy_490169467_fr-FR%3A5
Online prize pool : https://www.helloasso.com/associations/mouvement-pour-le-planning-familial-association-departementale-de-la-creuse/collectes/appel-a-la-solidarite-pour-5-familles-du-departement-de-la-creuse
Jess for the next n° of Creuse-Citron.
Source: Labogue.info
