On the initiative of the Urgency Solidarity Collective and the DUDH, a rally of support is organized at 10 a.m. place Simone Veil in Saint-Désirat this Saturday to support a Georgian family living in the village. The Ardèche prefecture has refused them their asylum request for years, since their arrival in France in 2013 – they fled Abkhazia, the autonomous republic of Georgia, in the grip of political upheavals. “Inhuman” decisions according to the Collectif urgence solidaire, which presents an integrated family, to school-going and French-speaking children.
Only Irakli, the 20-year-old eldest, has been in good standing since 2018. He played rugby in Annonay. “It’s the club that helped me with my residence permit” he says. It then passes through Nevers, “I signed again in Chartres. I have a professional contract, I have my residence permit valid until 2025”. The rest of the family never got their asylum applications validated. The two youngest children, 11-year-old Lazaré and 7-year-old Barbara – who was born in France – go to school in Saint-Désirat. “My brother and my sister don’t even speak Georgian well, they don’t write it. They are really well integrated. I don’t understand why they give me papers, and not the rest of my family” Irakli sighs.
The parents, 40-year-old Gocha and 39-year-old Nona, most often work as agricultural workers. She also does housework. “The height is that they are declared. They contribute, but they have no rights” deplores Bernard Gauthier, the president of the Collectif urgence solidaire, which has supported them for years, “they live quietly, they just want to be integrated”. The association signed the lease for the municipal apartment where the family has been living for two years now, “the family pays the rent, the electricity. It is autonomous!”