In France, a man held at the Mesnil-Amelot administrative detention center, north of Paris, died on the night of Thursday October 17 to Friday October 18. His death, the precise circumstances of which are not yet known, triggered a movement of revolt among the detainees when the context was already particularly tense. A few days earlier, RFI had visited this center and witnessed the difficult conditions of the detainees.
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The 27 year old man would have lost his life during the night from Thursday to Friday at the Administrative Detention Center (CRA) of Mesnil-Amelot n°3, composed primarily of foreign nationals. The information was confirmed the next morning by the police to Senator Anne Souyris, who, by coincidence, came that day to visit the Mesnil-Amelot detention center.
The elected official was able to speak with the medical team on site. The young man was closely monitored by caregivers for addiction issues, but had no other known health problems.
Witnesses to the tragedy reported some details on an association radio station which managed to reach them by telephone inside the CRA. They say they called the police for help several times and had to start cardiac massage to help the young man, in vain.
The day before, in the same place, another man had tried to end his life. It was the detainees, once again, who intervened to prevent him.
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Marked by these two tragedies, a revolt movement took over the men’s quarters on Friday evening. According to the Police Alliance union, external police reinforcements had to intervene to force the detainees to return to their dormitories.
The CRA administration did not wish to react to the death of the young man, nor to the anger expressed the next day.
These events take place in a particularly tense climate, while the Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau has made detention the keystone of its anti-immigration policy. While detentions in this place cannot officially exceed 90 days, the new first police officer of France seeks to extend this deadline to 210 days.
Also readAt the Mesnil-Amelot administrative detention center, the dismay of locked-up foreigners