The controversy still exists in France after many actors accused the government of moving this group of society in the run-up to the Rugby World Cup next September and the Olympic Games in the summer of 2024, under the pretext of the inability of hotels to accommodate them in the face of the influx of tourists during these two sporting events.
Since mid-March, the executive has asked department heads to set up “temporary regional reception areas” in all regions except Haute-de-France and Corsica, in order to to ease the pressure on accommodation centers in the Ile-de-France region.
This system mainly concerns immigrants, many of whom live in Ile-de-France on the streets, in emergency accommodation or in camps. But the housing minister’s office told AFP it was not targeting them specifically under the “unconditional welcome principle”.
old system
It seems that this system was not born today, since since 2021 the government has already implemented a similar system, but it has focused only on asylum seekers. According to a parliamentary report published Tuesday, May 23, this device “has proven itself and its effectiveness”, but a quarter of the people concerned refused to leave “Ile-de-France”.
On this basis, the report calls on the State to better coordinate transfers with the municipalities, and to better protect local elected officials. Because, as the authors point out, these transfers are “the subject of political exploitation which has led to threats and violence” against elected officials, culminating in the recent resignation of the mayor of Saint-Brivin-les-Bains in Loire-Atlantique, western France, after his house was set on fire, deliberately because he had announced his intention to move the reception center for refugees, installed in the city since 2016, sparking protests from l ‘far right.
inappropriate conditions
As for the “Federation of Solidarity Actors”, which answered questions from “Sky News Arabia” with a report on this subject, it considers that “the essential conditions necessary for the success of this system are not met today. today, particularly with regard to coordination with local authorities, the number and quality of available and planned housing, as well as the means of social support.
She points out that “although the number of emergency shelters has reached historically high levels, around 205,000, the fact remains that people across the country are still homeless and that the means to social support for people are not enough, so the government does not provide the means for the success of this system.
On the other hand, it affirms its “continuing adherence to the principle of national solidarity through the generous reception of homeless immigrants in different French regions, while insisting on the implementation of a fundamental change in the approaches to the practices of distribution of immigrants applied for several years.”
It seems that the government’s program for the redistribution of immigrants and the homeless has not impressed some of the heads of the provinces concerned, as expressed in a press release by the mayor of the city of Bruz, in the north -western France, which he “did not support”. the establishment of transitional chambers in his commune under conditions which he considered “inhuman”.
As for the Breton town hall, it says it was placed “in front of a fait accompli”, without prior consultation. He criticizes the choice of land where the migrants will be received, “under a car bridge”, “adjacent to a railway line” and “contaminated with fuel and heavy metals”. He stresses that those who come to the reception center in the future will not come by choice.
Two birds with one stone
Faced with this controversy that has been going on for weeks, the Minister of Housing, Olivier Klein, defended this project on Wednesday May 24, stressing that it makes it possible to “better welcome the homeless before accompanying them towards permanent housing and integration social sustainability.” He categorically denied that this process is taking place in preparation for the Rugby World Cup, which is due to start next September in France, or the 2024 Summer Olympics, despite dates which raise questions.
The founding member of the association “Utopia 56” which supports immigrants, Jan Manzi, said in his statement to “Sky News Arabia” that the French government was killing two birds with one stone.
He explains: “Despite the lack of recognition from the State, on the one hand he wants to clean up the capital before these two sporting events, and on the other hand he responds to the request of the French President, Emmanuel Macron, who expressed at the beginning of last autumn during a speech he delivered to the governors his desire to better distribute immigrants in the regions and not to concentrate them in a specific area. “.
Manzi considers that it is “a good solution for the future of homeless migrants, if each case is studied separately, and if financial resources are provided to accommodate them in the regions”.
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