VIDEO. The Battle of Callac

Who would have thought that Callac, 2,200 inhabitants, would one day occupy the front of the news for months? In a few weeks, the small Breton town has become the symbol of the tense debate on immigration.

It all started in the spring of 2022, when the city council announced that the town of Callac, in the Côtes-d’Armor, should welcome several dozen families from Syria, benefiting from a long residence permit. The project, financed by a private endowment fund, should benefit both the inhabitants of Callac and the refugees. These new arrivals would be added to the five Syrian families already housed for several months in Callac without any hitch with the local population.

To sow terror among the elect

But the entire local and even national extreme right then made the failure of this new project its battle horse. On the spot, the party of Eric Zemmour dispatches its executives to disrupt each municipal meeting and create a climate of terror. Elected officials will fear for their physical integrity, some receive threats every night on their mobile phones.

Little by little, the peaceful little Breton town is divided into two irreconcilable camps. Thirty-year-old friends like Guy and Alban no longer speak to each other. Their friendship does not resist their radically opposed positions on this subject. “Special Envoy” followed the daily life of this small town for several months. In January, the mayor, worried for his city, announced the abandonment of the private project to welcome refugees, but the maintenance of a public project which provides for the arrival of four families.

A report by Julie Benzoni, Jean-Charles Guichard, Pablo Rey and Julien Dufau broadcast in “Special Envoy” on April 6, 2023.

> Replays of France Télévisions news magazines are available on the franceinfo website and its mobile application (iOS & Android), “Magazines” section.