Welcoming Louise Michel’s Refugee Survivors
Logo of the national association of welcoming cities and territories
We publish the press release of the partner association ANVITA published on their website on Thursday, September 3, 2020,
This association aims to bring together a plurality of actors in the territories, with the exception of those advocating racism and hatred of others.
The association promotes hospitality, a source of inclusive policies for access to employment, training, housing, education, health, culture, and social cohesion.
As with last summer’s Ocean Viking and Open Arms[1], ANVITA denounces the current situation in the Mediterranean and the real risks encountered by Louise Michel, highlighting, again and again, a crisis of our values undermined by national and European policies preventing, at all costs, the arrival in Europe of people who have fled their countries because of conflict, poverty and climate change. They are, however, inherent to the right to mobility and the right to international protection. This policy of closure and withdrawal is today fuelling mistrust, multiplying political risks, destabilizing public opinion, and weakening France and Europe in the world.
We, local authorities and elected officials of the French Republic and members of the National Association of Welcoming Cities and Territories, reject these dramatic situations that have been repeating themselves for too long now. There are already more than 20,000 deaths in the Mediterranean, if only since 2014 [2]. 2] We reiterate our refusal of any policy that calls into question unconditional welcome, hinders fundamental freedoms, and constitutes a form of institutional violence.
We are also the custodians of humanist values and a historical tradition of hospitality, which are today in danger. This is why it is up to us, on our territories, to act in the image of the history and culture of hospitality in France and call on the State to assume its responsibilities and demonstrate its responsiveness and humanity.
Also, ANVITA calls for the mobilization of all elected officials of the local authorities to welcome the refugees and survivors of Louise Michel in a concerted manner.
Last summer, Martine Aubry, mayor of Lille, proposed to receive “the refugees from the Open Arms that France has committed to receive.” Marc Vuillemot, mayor of Seyne-sur-Mer, proposed to elected officials from around the Mediterranean to initiate a consultation to “open our ports to humanitarian ships coming to the aid of the refugees.” Dominique Gros, mayor of Metz, had decided to take in refugees who had escaped from the Mediterranean. And everywhere in France, yesterday as today, elected officials favor welcoming migrants and are mobilizing with the actors of civil society to meet the imperatives of emergency and social inclusion.
On Sunday, 30 August 2020, the city of Marseille announced the opening of its port at Louise Michel [3]. ANVITA supports the words of the First Deputy, Mr. Benoit Payan, who reminds us that “Maritime law, maritime history, the history of the city, all summon our responsibility. Women and children are dying… in this situation, we ask neither for papers nor for the regularity of these people’s situation. We save them; we help them.
In 2020, 31 cities, 3 regions, and 2 departments have debated and adopted in council the charter of our association on the unconditional reception.
It is then necessary to mobilize all elected officials concerned by this situation and wishing to meet their duty of hospitality to provide a collective and concerted response to this situation of indifference and contempt for international law, maritime law, and the right of asylum,
We ask the towns and villages that could take on the short-, medium- and long-term reception of refugees who have survived to work together to offer a response to this situation. There have been thousands of experiences in France over the years, which prove that it works perfectly when the State properly organizes the reception with local authorities, associations, and citizens.
In this sense, solidarity between our territories is necessary to think of a dignified and unconditional welcome.
The President
Damien CAREME
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WELCOMING CITIES AND TERRITORIES
Press contact – ANVITA coordination: contact@villes-territoires-accueillants.fr
To download the tribune :
CP Home Louise Michel – 03092020
