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A church in Grenoble occupied by young migrants

2020-02-27T18:21:25.005Z



Forty young adult migrants have been taking turns for a week to occupy the parish hall of a church in Grenoble, emblematic of welcoming the most disadvantaged, demanding papers and continuing their social support.

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“We have come to the end of what we could do as actions to challenge public authorities. And we feared the cold for young people on the street, " said Thursday AFP Raphael Beth, of Right to Housing (Dal) Isère, who supports them. The church was chosen for the symbol: Saint-Paul Sans Frontières, built in a district of social housing in the 1960s, was the parish of Father Jean Fréchet for almost 50 years (1962-2009). This "Abbé Pierre grenoblois" welcomed, fed and helped the homeless and excluded of all kinds. It is now on sale.

"We will re-examine the situation if it deserves to be"

Coming from Mali, Ivory Coast and Guinea-Conakry, the young people present in the church are in training to become cooks, electricians, house painters, etc. Often jobs in tension but for which they need a residence permit. “I want to finish my 2nd year of CAP masonry. I have a boss, I like this job a lot. But the department put me out of the contract! ” , tells AFP Bakary Camara, a 20-year-old Malian who went through several high schools.

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Associations, unions and parties that support these migrants (Human Rights League, Migrants in Isère, RESF, Doctors of the World, rebellious France, PCF, etc.) are questioning the department and the prefecture in this case. The Departmental Council, via its vice-president in charge of childhood Sandrine Martin-Grand, denies wanting to break these “young adults contracts” which allow them to be supported in training until their 21 years. Two reasons explain the end of the contract: "obtaining the diploma and we support them two months later" , or "a refusal of a residence permit by the prefecture," she explains. "Let the associations give us the identities of these young people and we can say why the contract ended, or we will re-examine the situation if it deserves to be."

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“In 2015, the last year before the massive arrival of isolated foreign minors, we had 315 contracts, 105 of which were for foreigners. In December 2019, we had 667, including 386 for young foreigners, that more than doubled, " said the elected official. The diocese of Grenoble, for its part, left the young people until March 9 - end of the school holidays - to leave the church and find their boarding schools. He considers the occupation of the premises, which "is not intended to house people" to be "illegal " . The bishop, Mgr Guy de Kerimel, is to come there on Friday.

See also - migrant camps fuel anger in Greece

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-02-27

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