Last weekend, on the night of Saturday 30 to Sunday 31 October, five migrants tried to reach France from Italy. They were on a very rugged path towards the border pass of Fréjus, around 3 a.m., and because of the cold and the slippery ground, they had to be rescued by Italian firefighters, hypothermic. As every year, elected officials and associations are ready to come to their aid.
Four centers in Modane and Fourneaux
There are four emergency and reception centers in the Modane-Fourneaux sector. Migrants can eat there, find a bed for the night. “It is well organized, with volunteers and with the help of the two municipalities, it is not necessarily financial aid, but it is help in providing rooms, photocopies or learning support etc … “, precise the mayor of Fourneaux François Chemin.
Each year, the municipalities of Modane and Fourneaux thus support 200 to 300 migrants until the end of winter at the end of March. A local system in place for more than five years and which seems to work, according to Marc Pascal, volunteer for the Tous migrants collective. “We have a dynamic in the department which is completely positive, which is the reason why we did not have slums, as we had in Grenoble, Lyon, Bourg-en-Bresse or elsewhere (.. .) it is a structure which works well, financed by the State, which can intervene very quickly “.
If there is still one point to improve according to him, it would be care for unaccompanied minors. “They do not have the right to be accommodated in emergency reception centers because they are minors, which is tragic for them, it generates psychological problems, but also physical”.
The emergency accommodation centers for migrants in Modane and Fourneaux are due to open in less than 15 days, around November 15. As these structures often operate with volunteers, local associations are looking for volunteers for this winter.