In the heart of the capital, the diocese of Paris has opened a unique place of reception, training and mutual aid for migrants. There, with a year late due to the health situation, more than a hundred of them now participate in workshops every day.
Installed at 5 ter, rue Jean Cottin (18th) in a building belonging to the diocese of Paris, Maison Bakhita was born, in 2018, from the desire to respond to the call of Pope Francis, who estimated on February 21, 2017 that it was “a duty of justice, civilization and solidarity […] to welcome, protect, promote and integrate ”any migrant.
For the diocese of Paris, it was therefore a question of creating a resource center, a real “network of partners” according to the president of the place, Anne Duthilleul, which would make it possible to propose a project different from what the associations and parishes which help migrants already offer them.
Workshops on registration
There is therefore no question of serving as a “first reception” for these migrants, nor of accommodating them, but of integrating them into a longer program, reserved for 150 people at a time. There, they will have free access to various workshops to learn French, find training or develop social relationships. A crèche (for a small fee) will also be available there.
In total, around fifteen activities were put in place during the month of November, at schedules spread throughout the week, extending from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Among them, an employment support workshop, sewing workshops, digital permanence and various manual workshops, with cooking or painting. Theater lessons and an orchestra have also been set up.
To attend, registration is required. Connected by a third person, the migrant can thus register for the activity of his choice, in any case the one that best meets his needs. But beware, Maison Bakhita is not intended to provide emergency or social assistance, even if medical and psychological consultations can be organized there.
When the structure was inaugurated in September, Mgr Benoist de Sinety, the vicar general of the diocese of Paris [qui a quitté ses fonctions depuis, ndlr], explained how it works: “this house is intended to accommodate on the one hand migrants who are already supported by an association, by a parish, by a structure, who send them to the Maison Bakhita where they will find training for integrate better into French society ”.
On the other hand, the Bakhita House was also designed “to allow those who want to work with migrants to come to this house to network with each other”, according to him and thus “to train and learn to to work with these people ”.
An essential structure?
“Structures like Maison Bakhita are essential for the public they welcome […] but it is also a richness for the district ”, had also testified the mayor of the 18th district, Eric Lejoindre, who evokes“ an ultra virtuous approach ”. The elected official said he was “convinced that the work done with refugees will benefit refugees as well as all the inhabitants of the district”, insofar as unaccompanied migrants too often find themselves on the street.
According to him, “finding solutions to prevent these people from ending up on the street” is an essential element, an “essential brick for public tranquility”.
Maison Bakhita has found a lot of funding, from the diocese of Paris, but also from the Ile-de-France region, the Paris City Hall, the Notre-Dame foundation – which has launched a dedicated call for donations – as well as other private foundations