She weighs each of her words this Friday, September 15. Nathalie Appéré, socialist mayor of Rennes, guesses that taking a position on immigration will earn her more criticism than compliments. Revolted by the speeches of “migratory submergence” developed on the right and the extreme right in reaction to the arrival of thousands of people on the island of Lampedusa in Italy, since September 11, and at the dawn of the debates on the “immigration” law in Parliament, it gets annoyed: “We must deconstruct these disastrous mystifications. France welcomes fewer migrants than many countries and has the means to do so with dignity. »
For several months, the councilor has been trying to mobilize on this subject which “takes in the guts” : “I do not accept seeing children sleeping in the streets. These kids are not statistics, but faces I know. So, I speak with the legitimacy of mayor of a city which, like others, is at the end of the chain of a dysfunctional and unworthy migrant reception system. »
Since the start of her political career in 2001 as deputy mayor of Rennes, she has faced the explosion of difficulties in housing asylum seekers arriving in the Breton capital. The problem has even become the one that most fuels the messaging loop that she maintains with her close colleagues. Although the number of emergency accommodation continues to increase in Ille-et-Vilaine, less than 20% of requests for shelter from wandering people, mainly migrants, are met.
“Call for air”
The city of Rennes has, however, gotten into the habit of making up for the State’s shortcomings. Every evening, the municipality houses more than a thousand asylum seekers in hotels or public buildings. A political choice which costs the community nearly 4 million euros annually, and is reaching its limits. In October 2022, while associations supporting asylum seekers opened squats in the city and groups of parents requisitioned schools to house families on the street, Mme Appéré recognized: “We can’t do it anymore. » With other mayors, she reminded the State of its responsibilities. After much negotiation, the government had finally released enough resources to calm the situation in Rennes and elsewhere.
As a new winter approaches, tension starts to rise again. On September 13, the councilor applied to the administrative court for summary proceedings to evacuate a migrant camp set up in a park. Half of the approximately 200 people have been relocated. The others have moved their tents to another public garden… In the corridors of the Ille-et-Vilaine prefecture, many note, in a tone of reproach, “the call of air” caused by the political action of the socialist. The latter contests: “If we don’t succeed, it’s not because I’m trying too hard. It’s because others aren’t doing enough. Locally, I have some keys to action, but the most important ones are not at my disposal. »
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