The opening of a detention center in the town of Olivet surprised many people, in particular the main actor in charge of managing asylum and stay requests.
“We weren't particularly demanding.
We have known for several years that there was a project to establish an administrative detention center in the area without being informed of its location,” testifies Attorney General Denis Chausserie-Laprée.
It was at the beginning of 2023 that the news was made official, without the local judiciary nor the Ministry of Justice having been involved in the conceptualization of this project, the prosecutor tells us.
Estimates predict between 1,500 and 1,800 referrals to be processed per year, which will lead to the need to create two new courtrooms.
The Orléans prosecutor reiterated his attachment to hearings taking place within the courthouse and not in an external building.
Work of 700,000 to 800,000 euros will be necessary for the hearings to be processed within the court.
A demonstration against this establishment
The arrival of people in an irregular situation in the town of 22,000 inhabitants does not panic the residents for the moment, a baker from Olivet tells us.
“For now, we are not worried.
We're waiting to see how this will go.
» On the side of the municipality, it's a bit of the same story, forced to accept the situation.
“An administrative detention center is not the public facility that dreams are made of,” shares Matthieu Schlesinger, mayor of Olivet.
In fact, the municipality had no say in the matter.
Since the land belonged to the state, he was free to do what he wanted.
However, the mayor reassures his citizens about the possible nuisances that these people waiting for residence permits could cause.
“These people, sometimes in France for some time, are asked to leave the territory.
For those who will not be returned to the border, they will simply return to the towns where they were arrested,” specifies the mayor.
The only firm opposition to this project comes from members of the COLERE collective (Contre Les Expulsions et la REtention).
A demonstration bringing together nearly 200 people was organized in front of the CRA on January 20.