Sponsorship of exiled families organized by Corrèze-Solidarité

Moral and civic support

(article by La Montagne / Frédéric Rabiller)

SOLIDARITY – Sponsorship of exiled families organized by the “Corrèze Solidarité” collective

Refugee families hosted in Tulle were sponsored at the initiative of the Corrèze Solidarité collective. The objective: to provide them with moral support and help them with their administrative procedures.

It is a new step in its fight alongside exiles that the Corrèze Solidarité collective took yesterday, at Tulle town hall.

After successfully opposing the decision of the Prefecture of Corrèze not to renew the emergency accommodation of around forty people

the collective continues to mobilize through the sponsorship of families.

Fourteen people hosted in Tulle by the Le Roc association were thus “adopted”, each by two godparents.

Vulnerable families

“It’s a bit like a republican baptism, but there is nothing official,” said Dominique Grador of the Education Without Borders Network (RESF).

Concretely, it is for each godfather and godmother to provide their godson with support, attention, and to help him in his daily life, to facilitate for him a sometimes complicated administrative process so that he can acquire rights for train and work.

“The families were not chosen at random. They are in a proven vulnerability with small children and young children who can find themselves in danger,” underlined Sylvie Christophe, one of the key figures of the collective, while welcoming the commitment of the mayor, Bernard Combes, also a sponsor, and city officials to encourage these sponsorships.

A resident of Saint-Clément, Annie Guyot is the godmother of Koro, a 3-year-old girl.

“I have known her and her mother Mari since January 2023. They come to the Secours catholique cooking workshop. When you know people, you are not insensitive. We experience their situation on an emotional and personal level. Our elected officials should know the people before making decisions concerning them,” she admitted.

This sponsorship ceremony was an opportunity for the sponsors and their godchildren to get to know each other and begin a life project in step with each other.

The administrative court authorized them to stay in accommodation until their next judgment.