We may find ourselves in the middle of an old church desecrated for twenty-five years, planted in the heart of the 14th arrondissement of Marseille, in the northern districts, the time is not for meditation, but rather for a dull anger. Near the old altar, around the round table, the atmosphere is disillusioned, and the audience, steeped in sighs of disappointment. “This is the tenth meeting of this type in which I have taken part, launches Hachimia Aboubacar, president of the Elementary Institute, an association which helps young people in the city of Castellane. But the real question is what do we do? Are we going to keep talking like this for a long time? “Meanwhile, outside, it continues,” murmurs Karima Meziene, from the collective of families.
Facing them, pen in hand, Socialist Senator Marie-Arlette Carloti and her counterpart from Saône-et-Loire Jérôme Durain blacken sheets of paper, looking serious. Since the beginning of the year, nearly 18 people have died in Marseille on the background of drug trafficking. A long-term trend: already last year, 32 people were victims of organized gang homicides, including 28 in Marseille. The two parliamentarians invited the representatives of the collectives working in the northern districts, before scheduled meetings with the prefect of police, the public prosecutor and the police.
“What we are asking for is nothing but peace”
“Please, when you come to our neighborhoods to be seen, what we are asking for is nothing other than peace and seeing our children grow up, sighs Zali Bakari, president of a another association in the northern districts. Now I’m scared when I walk in front of my house or when my daughter comes home from school. “For years, when we lived in these neighborhoods, we were ignored, abounds a mother who prefers to keep her name silent, out of fear. I lost my son in 2018 at two in the morning. He had just eaten ice cream. When his fiancée called me, I found myself alone in the field. »
Also seated around the table, a delegate from the prefect takes the floor. Over the words comes a strange impression: that a gap is widening between representatives of the State with technical discourse sometimes above ground and the main concerned, whose exasperation and fear transpire between two sentences. “There are many things that have been done and there is a strong commitment from the State, in particular through professional integration schemes such as recently, the crossroads of entrepreneurship, or the educational city”, argues the prefect’s delegate. “We have been dealing with these issues for decades, agrees Camélia Makhloufi, municipal councilor for the 13th and 14th arrondissements. But Mayor Marion Bareille had made a commitment during her mandate, with the creation of a police station in the sector. »
And Senator Marie-Arlette Carlotti to conclude that she will “try to help”, in particular by asking local authorities to take up some proposals shelled out during this meeting. The parliamentarian insists: at her level, it is impossible to trigger a parliamentary commission as some local actors demand, her political group having scoured the quota in this area.
“What we are offered is not what we need”
“There is a word that shocks me in what you tell us, annoys Jean-Claude Fosse, member of the neighborhood interest committee (CIQ) of Sainte-Marthe. That’s when you say you’re going to try to help us. We must help ourselves. We have to do. Elected officials want to change the situation on the ground more often when elections are coming up. Elected officials must not be on the ground just before the polls…” “I always hear the same speeches, plague Hachimia Aboubacar. It’s always the same situation. You tell us that there are measures put in place by the prefecture. But they are ineffective. As soon as we are born here, in the neighborhoods, it is a failure for us. We have to stop marketing when we are told that we will be helped, when what we are offered is not at all what we need. »
“In Marseille, public policies are made haphazardly, despairs Mohamed Berchiche, president of the CIQ of Sainte-Marthe, and it is not because we will make the tram in the northern districts that it will change things. . The town hall has zero means. Where the mother of the family died last week, across the Vieux-Moulin, things have been very badly done, and I have been saying for years that something must be done, because it has become a place of lawlessness with charred cars. And the police do nothing. »
After an hour of meeting, Senator Marie-Arlette Carlotti apologizes for cutting short the discussion time because she has other meetings planned, in particular with the prefect of police. “It’s always the same,” sighs Hachimia Aboubacar, as she leaves the old church. I’ve done meetings like that before. But in the end, what will it give? Is there no recovery? I’m wondering. But I’m not very optimistic. “Behind her, the acoustics of the old nave resonate with the fury of Karima Meziene, a member of the collective of families: “We no longer believe in these meetings. On December 25, while others were celebrating Christmas, we had already attended a meeting like that, in an emergency. And the number of assassinations ended record. Nothing came out of that meeting. If it’s for meetings and nothing behind it, that’s enough. “Marie-Arlette Carlotti slips into the conversation, and launches with a smile:” I have to work, right? »