The Belfort territory refuses to support unaccompanied foreign minors.

The wind of rebellion is currently blowing in the departmental councils of France. The reason for this general dissatisfaction is the difficulty of regulating the influx of unaccompanied foreign minors. Taking care of these people is essentially the responsibility of the departments. They will have to provide protection and education to these young people, who mostly come from sub-Saharan Africa.

The ever-increasing number of arrivals means that the atmosphere in these local communities is becoming increasingly tense, especially in this situation where reception capacity is too often reduced. However, no one took such a radical decision as the council of the department of the Belfort Territory.

The latter voted at the meeting in favor of a proposal that the department would no longer take responsibility for accepting isolated foreign minors into its child care structures. In particular, this proposal was voted unanimously, including by the left minority.

“We are going beyond our reception capacity.”

For Florian Bouquet, President (LR) of the Belfort Territory, the main mission of the department that is being questioned is the care of minors in difficulty in the department. “In our department, 37 accommodation measures are not applied to families. This is an intolerable situation. There are judge orders regarding placement that we cannot answer. If these orders have been passed, it is because we are dealing with children in serious difficulty. I, as the chairman of the department, will be responsible. We are pushing beyond our limits, we are reaching a tipping point. »

The territory, one of France’s smallest departments, currently hosts 92 unaccompanied minors (UMAs), “it turns out that 68 of them are actually adults. »

The appeal against this proposal is directed directly to the state, which departments are asking to take over their responsibilities. Charlotte Koebel, Secretary of State for Children, quickly responded, calling for “respect for the fundamental rights of all children in our country.” “Recalling the law, “an explicit refusal to enforce a court decision may, at a minimum, entail administrative liability for the department.” The Belfort territory has a good chance of being commissioned…