He is not an elected official used to making waves, but enough is too much: Rolin Cranoly, mayor (LR) of Gagny, bangs his fist on the table. He says he is “fed up with the attitude and methods of the state”. Object of his anger: he was told, this Friday morning by simple text message, that one of his gymnasiums would be requisitioned from Monday to accommodate a hundred migrants. These must be evacuated from the Paris and Aubervilliers camps by the end of the month.
“I received a first call from the Seine-Saint-Denis prefecture telling me that Gagny, as part of a rotation of towns in 93 to welcome refugees, had to lend a reception structure and prepare it for Monday July 27. That was Tuesday, ”says the elected official.
But, 24 hours later, he received “an SMS indicating that the State had … itself chosen the gymnasium”, namely, the Arena of Gagny. “And this, while despite my disagreement with their methods, I had accepted my responsibility as an elected official and agreed to lend another gymnasium! But in the end they did not give me the choice… This puts me, in addition, in a very complex situation in terms of logistics, because the city had chosen to lend this place to the association of Muslims in the city to celebrate the event. ‘Eid (Editor’s note: this Thursday, July 30) under sanitary security conditions, ”Rolin Cranoly said. Who gets annoyed: “In the prefecture, I was told to move Eid, as if it had no importance for the inhabitants of Gagny! “
“The State is discarded on local elected officials”
Angry, the city councilor then informed the authorities that he would refuse the announced visit of the prefectural delegation to the said gymnasium, as long as he had not ordered the requisition of his gymnasium in front of him. Las: “In a few hours, they were arranged: at 4 pm, this Friday, the decree was taken”, squeaks the mayor.
Who insists on one point: “I obviously have nothing against migrants, refugees, who are above all people in a situation of immense fragility. But the state must find a lasting solution for them! “Because successive evacuations, emergency housing in gymnasiums requisitioned in cities, as well as camps that are formed and then reform, are a” endless problem “according to Rolin Cranoly.
“We take people from town to town, and by doing this, the state is shifting onto local elected officials who must, urgently, adapt, bring in their agents to prepare a gymnasium. Where is the principle of free administration of communities? “And to worry, too, for” the health security conditions “in which they will be received. “There is a concern of the return of the epidemic at the moment. What guarantees do these refugees have on this point? “
In addition, the order of requisition of the gymnasium of Gagny ends in a month, specifies the elected official. “In the process, it will fall on another municipality,” he says, weary, regretting that “everything is allowed” for the state. But he repeats it: “Gagny will assume his responsibilities with these fragile populations”.
