A demonstration attracted more than 200 people, this Saturday March 27, in Orléans, to say no to the project of an Administrative Retention Center of 90 places, the opening of which is scheduled for 2023 in Olivet.
« Neither here nor elsewhere! This was the watchword of the demonstration on Saturday March 27 in Orleans (Loiret). More than 200 people gathered to say no to the construction of a 90-seat Administrative Retention Center (CRA) in Olivet (Loiret), ranging from Place de la Loire to the currently occupied Théâtre d’Orléans. An ARC is a place of deprivation of liberty where, by decision of the Prefect, undocumented people of all ages are locked up while awaiting deportation. In France, 53,273 people were locked up in 2019, much more than the population of Blois (Loir-et-Cher) for example, in administrative detention centers and premises, including 3,380 children, in difficult conditions.
Front banner of the procession during the demonstration in Orléans (Loiret) against the Administrative Retention Center which is due to open in Olivet (Loiret) in 2023. Credit: Delphine Toujas
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With a lot of slogans calling for solidarity with undocumented migrants and against the construction of these ” prisons that do not say their name », They were numerous to answer the call of the COLERE collective (Collective against Expulsions and Retention), led in particular by Théo Roumier of SUD Education. ” We challenge these prisons for foreigners, he detailed Wednesday March 24 during a press conference at the occupied Theater of Orleans. The important thing is to say that we do not want an Administrative Retention Center in Olivet, but not either in Bordeaux (Gironde) or Lyon (Rhône) as it is in the project.. These are sentences without trial because the illegal stay on French territory is no longer considered a crime since 2011 [décision de la Cour européenne de justice, NDLR ]. The procedure contravenes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which provides that no confinement can take place without prior judgment. However, the control of a judge only intervenes after imprisonment and sometimes people are expelled before seeing the judge and asserting their rights. »
Unified associations, unions and political organizations
Initially scheduled for April 4 but postponed because of the first confinement, the demonstration therefore ended up taking place almost a year later. In the crowd, many banners and placards demanded more solidarity and the end of borders. Among them, passers-by were able to discover the following messages: “ Borders assassinate », « No one is illegal », « Papers for everyone », « Culture has no borders “Or the inscription” I did not kill, I did not steal … But I have no papers »Behind bars.
Sign during the demonstration in Orléans (Loiret) against the Administrative Detention Centers. Credit: Delphine Toujas
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Holding up this last sign with his son Jean, Silvain explains: “ We are there out of solidarity with people who are locked up for no legal reason. Many of us, me in particular, are either immigrants or descendants of immigrants. At the time our parents or our grandparents would have been locked up, like my father born in Tbilisi in Georgia. I am against the fact that we systematically lock up these people who have done nothing wrong. »
A little further in the procession, Elena belongs to the CIMADE association, which aims to show active solidarity with the oppressed and exploited. It defends the dignity and rights of refugees and migrants. ” We don’t want this project to see the light of day, she explains. It is considered that these CRAs are prisons and that it is inhumane to lock up people without their case or their situation being processed or studied. »
Delphine Toujas
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