More than 1000 rejected adults per year and little means
Pascale Guarino has many years of experience at the head of Casas. Supported by a handful of permanent staff, a few trainees, and an army of volunteers – 4.5 full-time employees and 250 to 300 volunteers in the same year – the president has been helping several hundred people since 1984 (nearly a thousand per year), mainly rejected asylum seekers who hope to see their file revised by OFPRA, the French office for the protection of refugees and stateless persons. In the meantime, most fall into anonymity and uncertainty. For those “invisible”, Casas provides language lessons, offers administrative support and above all serves as a meeting place and socialization.
In the majority of cases, unsuccessful asylum applicants are referred to associations by the departmental platform for asylum seekers (PADA), managed in Strasbourg by the Foyer Notre Dame association. Unlike statutory refugees, who once their papers have been obtained from support by the State (French lessons, administrative support) and access to employment, the rejected do not benefit from any support system. .
The associations are therefore more or less the only ones to come in support. However, although CASAS or the CIMADE Grand Est no longer receive state funding since 2015, the specifications of the PADA, which is subsidized by the state, clearly mentions “that we must direct the rejected to charities” . A “hypocritical use of associations by the State” denounced by the president of CASAS. Despite the risks, many pass through the doors of associations, like this Thursday morning in December in the premises of Casas.
” What’s your nationality ?
In the midst of the morning commotion, Tengiz distributes the instructions and moves around in a relaxed manner, he almost seems at home. Around a too hot coffee, this young Georgian with false airs of rugby player tells us about his journey which led him first to Denmark then under a bridge, to Strasbourg. We won’t learn much about the reasons for his departure, except that Tengiz has been walking on one leg since 2008 and the Second Russo-Georgian War, a totally imperceptible handicap. The question is too intrusive, too sensitive, to be asked head-on.
From Denmark, Tengiz does not hear about his future destination. It was only during the drive to France, accompanied by his family, that the decision was taken to avoid large cities like Paris in favor of smaller towns. With its large Georgian community, Strasbourg therefore served as a suitable destination. But, unlike Denmark, where nights in the streets are very rare for refugees and asylum seekers, Tengiz and his family find themselves sleeping in the open air, without having been able to glean any information on the whereabouts of reception or help centers. From the first days, people from Strasbourg come to the news and encourage them to call 115 which, for only answer, will give a “you are of which nationality?” “. In France, emergency accommodation centers are in fact mostly designed for isolated people1.
Participate in activities
Tengiz, now an active member of CASAS, still has no papers, juggles with a few scraps of French and carefully avoids certain districts, such as the Gare or Etoile-Bourse. He even admits one day having turned back: getting ready to take a TER with a friend, he stops dead at McDonald’s on the station square, as if seized with a presentiment. Despite the pitfalls, Tengiz has a pretty good command of English and now has a “
Strasbourg ”, where he lives, and applies to university through a program specially aimed at undocumented migrants and refugees. A positive response and the painful prospect of an “express charter” to Georgia will perhaps dissipate a little.
When we ask him the recipe for his integration into Strasbourg society, a refrain comes up: “participation in activities, all kinds of activities”. So help CASAS, but also meet new people, go out, go to the park, play sports… What should not be done? Lead a life of “underground” by walling in your community. Easier said than done. Originally from Guinea, Boubacar put down his suitcases nine months ago and, since then, his only link with Strasbourg remains CASAS which “helps him with his administrative procedures but also to meet people and talk”. The rest of the time, it’s the fear of being caught that keeps him from going out. “With a group of friends,” he says, he spends most of his days in an apartment and rarely ventures outside, with the exception of the tram rides to CASAS.
Strasbourg, a land of welcome?
However, in Strasbourg, “the municipality is very attentive” to these questions, more than elsewhere perhaps. For the president of CASAS, the “city feels responsible” and “will do more in terms of reception” as evidenced by the latest initiative “Strasbourg, a hospital city”. A posture that P. Guarino attributes to local history: (…) “not so far away, in some families, there are people who have been deported, displaced, or welcomed in other regions”. In this city on a human scale, “where people still know each other”, the large network of associations and well-established foreign communities ensure an ecosystem that is surely less difficult for the integration of the “invisible”. But for the rejected, deprived of documents and stability, the road remains long and uncertain, in Strasbourg or elsewhere.
Written by Jules Seta (2020)
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