“We came in here, we respect the law, we are integrated … what needs to be done to make this work?”. In front of the hundred people gathered in front of the Jules Verne circus in Amiens, Lansana Oularé reads the letter that he will leave in the letterbox of the Somme prefecture a few meters away on the occasion of this international migrant day. Arrived in France in 2015, this Guinean of origin is regularized, but he notes that this is not the case for many exiles like him: “We must review the situation of these people who are in difficulty, what are the possibilities, what can the Republic do for them.” He hopes to get an appointment with the prefect in the coming weeks, while applications for residence permits “are very often rejected”, explains Sibylle Luperce, from the Education Without Borders Network, which supports applicants.
– Florent Vautier
A lack of humanity. This is what comes back in the mouths of the demonstrators who came in particular to ask for the regularization of all undocumented migrants. The situation of these exiles greatly affects Isabelle, who came with a sign “Migrants need bridges, not walls.” “These are people who have been through terrible things that none of us can imagine. Walking for two years, crossing seas …”, she specifies.
– Florent Vautier
The tragedies of recent years in the Mediterranean, or even more recently in the Channel, with these 27 migrants drowned off the coast of Calais on November 24, have touched here a lot. And according to Sylvette Chevalier, from CIMADE, “it is the fault of the States, and not of the smugglers”, while the association for the defense of migrants appeals to the humanity of a government which according to them is sorely lacking. And many demonstrators deplore the remarks about migrants heard from certain candidates for the presidential election which will take place next April.