A neglected priority” “

Hundreds of cars were torched and tens of buses destroyed in an arson attack on a bus depot. Five policemen were wounded by stones thrown by youths, and numerous arrests made. There have been nights of violence in the suburbs of Paris and also in other areas in France in recent days. The stage of the unrest is that of the impoverished housing estates on the outskirts of the big cities especially inhabited by immigrants. It all began on 27 October following the death of two youths, accidentally electrocuted in an electricity cabin in which they had hidden to escape the police. The French government has decided to restore law and order and put an end to the violence. Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin called these acts of urban guerrilla warfare “unacceptable”: “I cannot accept that organized gangs should dictate the law in the suburbs”, said Villepin before the National Assembly. “The Republican State will not surrender”, he concluded, promising that “order and justice” would be restored. THE VOICE OF THE CHURCH. Delivering the opening address at the recent plenary assembly of the French episcopate, Archbishop JEAN-PIERRE RICARD, while he did not refer explicitly to the recent events in Paris, emphasized that the Church is on the side of the poor and the disadvantaged because she feels it is her “duty” to promote “a campaign against any form of marginalization and the economic, social and political injustice from which many people are suffering”. The archbishop described “an alarming situation in this regard”, that in which immigrants live: they arrive in Europe because they aspire to political stability and peace, development and an improvement in their living conditions”. “The episcopates of the countries of the Maghreb – said Ricard – have long warned us” about the influx of refugees along the coasts of the European Union. “The movements of population that the European Union is trying to stem are the symptom of tragic situations experienced by peoples that are the victims of economic imbalances. But it is not by erecting walls around the EU that we can solve the problem of migration. Only a commitment to solidarity in development among peoples and a conversion of our own lifestyles can help us to find just and humane solutions to these problems”. THE “FACES” OF THE POOR. The poor in France “are becoming ever poorer” and “the social and human cost of this unprecedented situation is having strong repercussions on the life and future of many families and individuals”, warns Caritas France, against the background of the continuing clashes between immigrant youths and the police forces in the suburbs of Paris. The occasion for the Caritas alarm was the presentation of the report that the aid organization promoted by the Catholic Church in France draws up each year on the people given relief in Caritas centres in the country. In 2004, Caritas France relieved some 650,000 situations of poverty. Bearing in mind the average composition of families, these situations represent a total of approximately one and a half million destitute people, of whom 690,000 are children and 810,000 adults. But it is not so much the “quantitative” data that concern Caritas as the quality of life of these people that is deteriorating from year to year. In the first place their age is increasing, which makes their integration in society ever more difficult: their average age has risen from 38.8 in 1999 to 39.7 in 2004. The category of the “poor” that is growing in a particularly significant way is that of the unemployed without state benefits: these are people excluded from the world of work for a certain period of time, and thus precluded from gaining access to unemployment benefits. Another significant finding – indeed it has given the title to his year’s Caritas Report – is the accommodation in which those who seek aid are forced to live. Those who live in precarious or temporary accommodation, i.e. boarding houses, caravans, or with relatives and friends, have increased by three percentage points over last year. But even the situation of those who live in more permanent accommodation (72.5%) is hardly much better: slum accommodation “totally unsuitable for human habitation”. The Regions in which the index of precarious housing is highest are obviously those in the big conurbations, such as Paris, Marseilles and Lyon. CARITAS APPEAL. Unemployment, precariousness of employment, poor housing, and weakening of purchasing power: these are some of the indicators that “urge that a policy of combating poverty and social exclusion be placed at the centre of European, national and local public intervention as soon as possible and as a matter of priority”, declares the appeal launched by Caritas in the light of the Report’s findings. Gilbert Lagounelle, head of institutional action of Caritas in France, said that previous legislation aimed at “curbing exclusion spoke of a national imperative. This imperative was a priority set by the legislator, based on the access to fundamental rights that everyone ought to enjoy. But the facts prove that this priority has not been respected. Caritas therefore asks that the social impact of all policies aimed at the reduction of poverty be assessed, new legislation introduced, and new national, regional and local programmes implemented that are able to have a positive impact on the poorest and most excluded populations”. JOC: CONDEMNATION AND REPRESSION NOT ENOUGH. “Condemnation and repression cannot be the only response to the events that have shook the suburbs of Paris in recent days”, says a statement issued by the JOC (Christian Worker Youth) in France. While “strongly deploring the violence” of the clashes between immigrant youths and the police forces, the JOC stresses that “the causes [of the disturbances] need to be taken into account” and urges that “the educational work performed by the associations present on the territory”, which “cannot be abolished at the stroke of a pen”, be not ignored. In the view of the JOC, the escalation of violence in the suburbs of Paris, especially in the area of Clichy, “is a tragic situation” which should not be dismissed with “violent language” like that used by the Minister of the Interior. “Life in the suburbs – points out Inès Minim – cannot be reduced to a clash between delinquents and the police forces, as people would sometimes like to make us believe. Many positive initiatives have existed for years”, adds the JOC spokesperson, mentioning the work of the associations, as well as that of local missionaries, youth volunteers, families and “more widely all those people who hold out a helping hand”. “Reinforcing security in the suburbs – concludes the statement – is clearly a necessity, on condition that it be constructive, and not exclusively repressive. But we need to go further, and encourage social and charitable work”, so as to “permit the genuine education of our citizens”. The JOC in France is “an association of popular education that contributes to the integration of youth in society and in life”. Established in 1927, it now has some 10,000 members, and reaches 30,000 young people between the ages of 15 and 30, regrouped in 120 local federations. THE CONCERN OF THE BISHOPS. During the recent Assembly in Lourdes, Archbishop Jean Pierre Ricard later issued a statement, publicly expressing the “deep concern” of the French bishops about “the acts of violence and destruction” that are occurring in the suburbs of the big cities of France. “Groups of youths – said Ricard – are clashing with the police night after night, arousing fear in people’s minds. The images that the media are transmitting of these events are creating deep disquiet in public opinion and arousing an atmosphere of suspicion between the various sections of the population”. Ricard then added: “We must ask ourselves what it is that can generate such a spiral of violence in our big conurbations. Recent urbanization, the difficulties of the young in finding work, and instability in family life, are often cited as factors. But we believe that repression and the incitement to collective fear are not an appropriate response to the dramatic tensions in our society. We feel it is our duty to recall the work that has been performed in daily life by so many associations and institutions to create bonds of solidarity for brotherly life”. Now is not the time to “lower our guard”: now is the time to unite the forces of social life. “It is of vital importance – concluded Ricard – to open up to the new generations, often deprived of hope, a future of freedom, dignity and respect for others”. MUSLIMS. In response to the “grave and repeated” events that are taking place in numerous quarters in French cities, the Union of the Islamic organizations of France (UOIF) has appealed to Moslem youth “to calm their anger, to meditate and to conform to the fatwa”, the religious edict that condemns disorder and consequent destruction. Many young rebels are of North African Arab or black African descent. And many of them are Muslims. “It is formally forbidden to any Muslim who seeks divine grace and satisfaction – declares the fatwa – to participate in any action that blindly strikes private or public property, or that might constitute an attack on the life of any person”.