In Marseille, between 150 and 200 people claiming to be minors are sleeping outside. The department must take charge of them, but says it is overwhelmed and ready to put itself “outside the law” by refusing them. In France, 16,700 foreign minors arrived in 2019 and 14,700 in 2022, after a drop during the Covid years. (Rebroadcast)
In the lobby of a beautiful building on Boulevard Longchamp in Marseille, a hubbub rises from the stairs. At the bottom of the steps, neon lights flicker and try to light up the two cramped rooms in the basement. About fifty young people wait to reach one of the two volunteers. And yesterday it was worse ! ” shouts Monique Cherel from the other end of the cellar.
Twice a week, Collectif 59 Saint-Just guides young people, takes stock of their situation, distributes telephone cards. Sometimes, also, food vouchers from Abbé Pierre. This is in reality what many young people came looking for. I haven’t eaten since yesterday… “But Monique no longer has a ticket, everything was distributed the day before.” I know, I was there. But there were too many of us, I didn’t have any.. »
Their faces are sunken, sometimes to the extreme, their eyes red, their gaze vacant. A young boy jumps up and down compulsively. You don’t need to talk, just look at their faces : you see that it’s not going well “, a boy whispers. Unable to eat, they try to warm themselves. Between 150 and 200 people sleep in the street or in squats in Marseille, depending on the collective.
A majority, recognized as minors on appeal
The young people follow one another in front of “Madame Catherine” who fills out cards: “ How old are you ? Where do you sleep? ? » Alassane* is 16 years old, he sleeps in a tent. I will make a request for a lawyer for you. You have already done the assessment of your minority with the Addap 13 ? »
Addap 13 is the association mandated by the Bouches-du-Rhône department (13) to take care of unaccompanied minors (MNA). But here as elsewhere, the departments are overwhelmed. However, in 2022, the number of MNA is lower than in 2019, before the health crisis. From 16,700 to 14,700.
When a place becomes available, the young people are housed in a hotel and then summoned to carry out an “assessment”, during which the Department checks that they are minors. David Lemonnier, deputy general director of Addap 13, admits that most assessments lead to ” the majority »: 7 out of 10 young people will be rejected in 2022.
Discouragement policy
These young people then wait for their application for minority status to be reassessed by the juvenile judge. On appeal, 75% ultimately end up winning their case, according to the associations. A ” policy of discouragement “, according to Jeanne, collective 113. They are not welcome : they are declared adults so that they can leave the territory. “The seriousness of the evaluations is also disputed. On that of Moussa*, it is written: ” The person concerned does not seem intimidated by the evaluator […]his language and posture are not those of a teenager but of an adult […]. He does not have the physical characteristics of a 15 year old teenager. years. “On the last page of the file, the full photocopy of his birth certificate.
David Lemonnier refutes any subjectivity: “ We are regularly checked and the procedure is compliant. And the Addap 13 has no instructions from the Department. “But for Marlène Youchenko, a lawyer, the fact that the departments are judges and parties poses a problem of impartiality.
While waiting for their appeal, the young people are no longer protected, unless the juvenile judge issues a placement order, which happens less and less often, deplores the lawyer. Legally, it’s a hole in the racket. “, admits David Lemonnier. ” They spend six month or a year out, denounces Jeanne. Without the volunteers, they would die and be prey to all kinds of trafficking. This is failure to assist a person in danger. »
Reception crisis
A standoff is already taking place between the departments and the State. Ain (01) has indicated that it will no longer accept unaccompanied minors for three months. Martine Vassal, president of the Departmental Council (13) is ready to put herself ” outlaw “It wouldn’t be the first time: she has already been condemned several times by the administrative court. The issue of unaccompanied minors does not appear in the immigration law, which is deplored by the Assembly of French Departments (ADF). Gérald Darmanin has promised them financial aid.
The question of means is undeniable. But the groups unanimously denounce a lack of political will, while Martine Vassal claims strong anti-immigration positions. In September, before the Pope arrived in Marseille, 40 young people occupied a church. To avoid scandal, the department rehoused them in a few days. We hear talk of a “migration crisis”, but in reality it is a reception crisis “, Jeanne believes.
In the middle of the battlefield, young people try not to die. I didn’t think it was going to be this hard “, murmurs Joël*, sitting in the cellar on Boulevard Longchamp. After leaving his family, crossing the desert and the sea on a makeshift boat, he didn’t think he’d sleep at the station. There, strangers give us 5 euros to eat. The next day they come back and offer to sell us drugs. We refuse, but how will we eat? ? “At the other end of the cellar, like a tired record, Monique Cherel repeats over and over: ” We-don’t-have-any-tickets-today ! “But young people can’t hear it: ” We need help “, they implore, passing around a box of Nesquik found who knows where, which they empty in hungry handfuls.
*assumed names.