“How much do you pay? Breaths a lookout under a black running t-shirt tied in a balaclava. Behind two disused refrigerators lying on the roadway and using a wheelie bin, the young man filters the comings and goings in one of the only two dead ends leading to the city of Marronniers, in the 14th arrondissement. from Marseille. This set of six buildings is one of the many “ovens” in the northern districts for which different teams of drug traffickers are currently engaged in a bloody conflict.
Twelve people have died in serial settlements in the past two months. “An explosion”, recently noted Dominique Laurens, the prosecutor of Marseille. Among the victims, Rayanne, 14, fell under the bullets on August 18, shortly after 10:30 p.m., here Traverse des Marronniers. “Bullets are raining right now. He was a good kid who found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time ”, regrets, fatalist, Kelydi, 19, an inhabitant of the Marronniers. This Friday noon, with a dozen other young friends from the neighborhood, he goes to the death chamber of the hospital of Timone.
Nearly 200 people came to pay a last tribute to the youngest victim of this murderous Marseille summer. The great majority of the inhabitants of the district do not feel, faced with this fatal reality which is repeated from year to year, more than sadness and idleness. The majority wore an appropriate qamis for the ceremony, some wear a “#justice and support” jersey, flocked to Rayanne’s first name with two small wings and a star surrounding her first name. With rare explosive exceptions, all are in white.
“It’s no longer a burning tree, it’s the whole forest. There is nothing more to do “
Sitting with his head in his hands, Anthony rubs his eyes. Rayanne was his grandnephew by marriage. “It’s no longer a burning tree, it’s the whole forest. There is nothing more to do, he breathes. All the north of the city is abandoned and it does not date from yesterday. Before, the thug had six bullets in his magazine and he closed one eye to aim. Today, you have 300 bullets in the barrel with heavy weapons that you can pick up in the Balkans by bus, without being checked at the borders. The problem is with the guns. ”
Anthony preferred to leave the neighborhood for Marignane and would like to get even further away from this growing and systemic violence. While Emmanuel Macron is expected Wednesday in Marseille, with “a global plan for the city” and the open checkbook, Anthony remains distraught: “I no longer expect anything from the State, if he thinks of coming as a hero he is wrong. Money is fine, but it does not solve everything. A lack of hope that seems to be shared by many in attendance. “What should we do? I don’t know, me; I am young ! “. “We’re still going to take a new anti-stupid plan, ouch ouch”, bravado a young person while another continues: “Macron, who is it? “
Before, the thug had six bullets in his magazine and he closed one eye to aim. Today, you have 300 bullets in the barrel with heavy weapons that you can pick up in the Balkans by bus, without being checked at the borders. “
On the wall of the boulevard facing the cul-de-sac going up to Les Marronniers, a tag with delicate calligraphy reads: “The State is letting us down”. Since Rayanne’s death, the CRS have shown themselves to be a little more present than usual with “shelling” operations, a new anti-narcotics doctrine inaugurated at the end of winter. “I dream of police officers who call young people by their first name and do not arrive with shields to pin them against the wall”, loose Amine Kessaci, 17, whose big brother Brahim died on December 29.
“This plan, it must be designed by the people below”
The young man is from Frais Vallon, another neighborhood in the north of the city where a man was shot in early summer. Holder of a professional baccalaureate, he is preparing to enter preparatory class for business schools and follows a completely different path than his brother. With his association Conscience, he called for the holding of a white march, this Tuesday, August 31 from the Old Port. “It is for the victims of crime but above all to ask for healthy housing, premises for associations in the neighborhoods and a local police, summarizes the young man who spoke briefly with Benoît Payan, the mayor of Marseille . If Macron comes with his ready-made plan, it won’t work. Money will not solve everything. This plan must be devised by the people below. ”
Hassen Hammou, whose close friend also died on a settling of scores a few years ago, has been leading this fight since 2016 with the “Too Young to Die” collective. “White steps, we made them. But putting on a spectacle of misery and mourning does not work, ”he believes. Today, he says he is “pessimistic” about the future of the northern districts of the city: “Our districts are abandoned. There is no longer a public service, no more social ties, no more commerce. On behalf of his collective, Hassen sent Pierre-André Imbert, adviser on social issues to Emmanuel Macron, a request for an interview with him when he came to Marseille. He must already meet the prefect in the week, he assured. “The idea is not to hold a public meeting but to go there in a small committee, with residents and associative actors. Because if he stays with his Parisian advisers, his plan can’t work. “
On the footbridge spanning the Impasse des Marronniers railway line, Sarah * pushes her trolley and gets out to wait for the bus to go to the nearest supermarket. The lookout has just let her pass by saluting her. “Of course, it has gotten worse lately,” says this mother of two young children. “They watch who comes in and goes out but are respectful, they call us ‘auntie’, help us run errands when we are loaded. Not all of these young people are thugs and criminals. I understand that they are fed up with seeing their mothers leave to do housework and return with few groceries in the bag ”.
By the way, “How much do you pay to get in?” The drug resale network is paying.
* This first name has been modified at the request of the person