Toulouse: as part of the Migrant'scène festival, Cimade is organizing the Charter Awards ceremony, the prize for the most zealous prefectures in terms of retention

Members of Cimade, an association which defends “active solidarity and political support for migrants, refugees and displaced persons, asylum seekers and foreigners in an irregular situation”, organized the ceremony, which will take place on November 18 at the Théâtre du Grand Rond in Toulouse, under the sign of “the trip and the generosity of the French administration”. A grating way of singling out the most zealous prefectures in France, whose “illegal or abusive practices in administrative detention centers (CRA)” have been denounced by Cimade for forty years.

Prizes awarded by an actor

The Charter Awards ceremonyIt happened (again) near you”, organized as part of the Migrant'scène festival, concerns “more than 10 nominated prefectures which are in the running for the 5 prizes awarded” by La Cimade de Toulouse which evokes, not without humor, “an unbearable suspense! Among the most anticipated, the Hippocrates prize, A day without end, Catch me if you can, Goodbye children and the Un certain regard prize”. The prizes will be presented by the actor and choir director Lucas Lemauff, before ending in music with the singer Mymytchell.

The retention period increases, impacting mental health

This event takes an offbeat look at the subject of welcoming foreigners in France. In 2023, Cimade recorded, in its report last April on “administrative detention centers and premises”, “46,955 people locked up in detention, a figure which has been constantly increasing for several years but which does not translate into a increase in evictions. The association deplores “periods of confinement which are increasingly long”.

“In France, continues Cimade, the duration of detention is on average 28.5 days in 2023, compared to 23 days in 2022. This lengthening has impacts on the mental health of people locked up and the level of tensions in the CRA. The year 2023 was particularly marked by the deaths of four people.