Thursday, 9 April 2009

Arrest me, they said

Palais de Justice
"If by French law, giving assistance, shelter or comfort to illegal immigrants is a crime then arrest me because I'm a helper", said the some 200 voluntarily hand-cuffed people who came to demonstrate in front of Avignon's Tribunal at 1 p.m. yesterday - joining the thousands of others who also did so in other parts of France. Their commitment to solidarity is a strong answer to the acute problem posed by illegal migrants in Europe, a topic beautifully developed in "Welcome", a French movie by Philippe Lioret that was released here in March and continues to generate much attention and debate.

Les menottes ici sont un symbole fort. "Si en France il est illégal de porter assistance aux personnes en situation irrégulière, arrêtez-moi car je suis un "aidant" - tel est le message qu'ont voulu faire passer les quelque deux cents manifestants qui se sont retrouvés hier à midi trente devant le Palais de Justice d'Avignon - rejoignant ainsi les milliers de personnes qui ont manifesté ailleurs en France. Un message fort de solidarité face à la problématique aïgue développée dans le film "Welcome" de Philippe Lioret, celle des sans-papiers en France et en Europe.

17 comments:

  1. It appears that you have similar problems and concerns to ours re: immigration here in the States.

    Nice slice-of-like pic.

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  2. Ceci me fait penser au livre de Jean Raspail qui s'appelle << Le Camp des Saints >> ... which provoked alot of controversy... how's that for a Franglaisist comment ?

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  3. Magnifique photo plein de l'humanité qui veut s'étendre.

    HUGS.
    Ici on a les lois pour les immigrés légaux qui sont injustes Une foix acceptée en Canada il devrait etre traiter comme les autres canadiens.

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  4. I"m thinking that your situation has not reached the enormous proportions that we now have here. I could be wrong of course. Nathalie, you do such a grand job chronicling the current issues in Avignon. Bravo.
    V

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  5. re coucou - de vrais vedettes ces deux là

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  6. j'ai l'impression d'être lundi soir a evry avant le debat avec Besson, meme slogan, meme type de manifestant

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  7. Ah, eh bien tu vois...
    Nous n'avons jamais été aussi proches !
    Mais tout le monde l'a faite à sa manière...

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  8. Merci d'avoir pensé à me faire signe.

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  9. I admire their sentiment, but I wonder how many of them really have actually helped or even spoken to a 'clandestine'.

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  10. BIen contente de voir que les jeunes continuent de refaire le monde. Surement un film que j'aimerais beaucoup beaucoup voir. Le brassage des idées, des marchandises et du reste à l'échelle mondiale conduit forcément à de telles situations. Prise de conscience.

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  11. Votre photographie pourrait presque se passer de commentaire tant votre prise de vue est forte par ses symboles et la conviction des personnes qui se sont menottées...! Vous avez un "sacré" coup d'oeil pour "capturer" un tel instant ainsi que du talent ! Merci de votre générosité ( elle se fait encore de nos jours...! ) et d'avoir partagé cette "image" avec moi... en l'occurence !
    Jeff !

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  12. Adam - I can't speak for all but I know that several people who were there, whom I'm friends with, are teachers and individuals heavily involved in supporting families whose children go to school here but whose parents' status is more than shaky.

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  13. des vedettes, oui et j'espère un peu partout, d'autres encore.

    Où allons-nous?

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  14. Civil disobedience in France? Unthinkable!

    Thanks for your comment and brilliant suggestion today. I scoured the St. Louis airport gift shops today looking for a little model Arch (we're in Chicago at the moment) but there were none to be had. Having a long French lunch Monday with Olivier and two other Paris bloggers. They will have to settle for refrigerator magnets with a photo of the Arch.

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