“We are facing an explosive situation”, worries the president of the departments of France

François Sauvadet, president of the embly of the departments of France, says he is very concerned about the situation, particularly in the Alpes-Maritimes. DR.

He does not hide his concern. Coming out of a meeting with three ministers on Tuesday morning, François Sauvadet, president of the embly of the departments of France, is worried about one of the sensitive points of the migration issue: the increase in the number of unaccompanied minors (MNA) . “We are facing an explosive situation. We are recording mive arrivals at our borders, particularly in the Alpes-Maritimes where nearly 2,000 unaccompanied minors have been received since the start of the year, i.e. nearly 5,000 nationally. We are back at the unsustainable levels of the years 20178-2018!”thunders the UDI president of the Côte-d’Or.

Following an initial alert addressed directly to Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, François Sauvadet was able to speak on Tuesday morning with three ministers: Gérald Darmanin (Interior), Éric Dupond-Moretti (Justice) and Charlotte Caubel (Secretary of State in charge of childhood). At his side were Éric Ciotti, president of the Republicans and deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes, Charles-Ange Ginesy president of the Alpes-Maritimes department, and Anthony Borré, first deputy to Christian Estrosi at the town hall of Nice.

Saturation

For the boss of the French departments, it is indeed the situation on the Italian border which must alert the executive since this region today concentrates a third of the arrivals of unaccompanied minors in France. His concern relates to the current growth of the phenomenon, which he places at “more than 30%“. “If we continue at this rate, we risk practically doubling this flow of young foreigners. The worstinsists Sauvadet, is that we no longer have reception capacity in our establishments, while we are subject to an injunction obliging us to no longer use hotel rooms to meet needs. But already we are forced to solicit them again“.

Abuse on the rise

The pressure is all the stronger in this department of the South East that the summer period is not very far away and that the hotel constraints will be less and less understandable in high season. François Sauvadet also evokes the growing exasperation of the staff solicited. “We no longer know how to welcome, we no longer know how to do“, Despairs the spokesperson for the departmental communities, noting that on Wednesday alone, 45 young unaccompanied minors were registered in the Alpes-Maritimes.

Sauvadet explains that the embolism of the system actually threatens all of the French departments, even if a distribution system exists. In Côte-d’Or, for example, this translates into a 30% increase in reception, even though everywhere in France child abuse – for which the departments are responsible – is also said to be on the rise, under the effect of growing precariousness and the consequences of the Covid crisis. “Obviously, we explode. This is what I came to tell the ministers this morning, asking them to act without delay on several points“, he testifies, while the law obliges the departments to welcome young unaccompanied children until their 21st year.

“We walk on the head !”

Its alert aims in particular to improve the urgent identification of the age of unaccompanied minors and the financing of operations (while the data reveal that they are increasingly young); strengthen police and gendarmerie resources; but also those of justice to deal with the risks of delinquency, drug trafficking and prostitution; provide a legislative arsenal; and require the State to ume its sovereign responsibilities. “Do you realize that today, after an analysis by the Council of State, we have an obligation to conclude a “young adult contract” with young people being deported to the border. We walk on the head !“, denounces François Sauvadet.

Hence its expectations vis-à-vis the next immigration bill and its support for the initiative of the Republicans, who are in the process of refining two texts, one of which is of a constitutional nature in order to be able to respond more effectively to the urgency of migratory flows. For Sauvadet, the State is the competent authority on these sovereign issues. This is what he reminded the Senate on Wednesday, in the presence of Gérard Larcher and Bruno Retailleau. “If we need to change the law, let’s change the law“, he insists. The departmental elected also hopes that part of the problem will be dealt with with France’s European neighbors.

For the ADF, child welfare represents an overall annual cost of 9 billion euros, including 1.5 billion earmarked for unaccompanied minors. This financial question could be examined quickly by the services of Matignon. François Sauvadet left his exchange with the ministers by welcoming a “real awareness” and an “real government willto deal with the crisis in the Alpes-Maritimes. Before issuing a warning: “But that will not be enough. It is more than urgent for the State to take these problems into account and ume its responsibilities because we are reaching saturation point. Elected officials and staff can no longer cope! »