Tribune. On April 22, two united marauders appeared before the Gap court (Hautes-Alpes) for “Assistance with the entry into France of people in an irregular situation”, after being arrested on November 19, 2020 in the mountains while they were rescuing an Afghan family who had just crossed the border with Italy. The magistrates’ decision was put under advisement on May 27.
That same day, in Grenoble, will take place the appeal judgment of the “seven of Briançon”, sentenced on December 13, 2018 at first instance to sentences ranging from six to twelve months of imprisonment, four of which closed in the latter case. They were accused of having “Facilitated the entry of illegal persons into French territory” during a demonstration organized on April 22, 2018 by citizens of Briançonnais to denounce the violence committed against migrants by the extreme right-wing group Generation Identity, since dissolved, and to denounce the growing militarization of the borders.
For five years, men, women, unaccompanied minors, families with infants and children have tried to cross the border via the Col de Montgenèvre, at an altitude of 1,800 meters, risking their lives. They often flee wars and violence in the Sahelian zone, the Horn of Africa or the Middle East. They have been gone for several years, crossing the Sahara and the Mediterranean for some, following the Balkan route for others, facing attacks by mafia networks, police abuses, brutalities by militias, Libyan prisons and civilians. camps in Greece. They are ready to take all the risks to go to the end of a journey during which they have already seen the death of companions in misfortune.
Avoid accidents, save lives
During the first passages, residents of neighboring valleys discovered these exiles crossing the mountain in the snow without equipment, suffering from severe frostbite forcing amputations or victims of trauma caused by falls on dangerous slopes. Mountain people, they could not stand idly by in the face of such tragedies. They organized marauding, that is to say crisscrossed the French approaches to the Col de l’Echelle and Montgenèvre, above Briançon, to reduce the risks incurred by people lost in the mountains. They have thus avoided accidents, saved lives and welcomed people with dignity.
You have 61.73% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.