Fire in French Migrant Detention Centre.

no border

By tea-time yesterday it was pretty clear that conflicting versions would be presented in the French media today. I went surfing through discussion threads which began about a week ago with the call to mobilisation to peacefully protest the detention camp for migrants at Mesnil-Amelot yesterday. Teatime yesterday they suddenly started gathering comments. Take for example this announcement published in the free distribution newspaper "20 minutes" on 28/7/08 which mentioning the previous fires at Vincennes and the following at Nantes & asked [rhetorically I believe] where would be next.
It appears to have been ignored till somebody by the name of "Pierre" picked up that rhetorical question writing "you asked where next?"..."therefore it is you who burn the camps".
 http://collectifsdfalsace.20minutes-blogs.fr/archive/2008/07/28/sos-sans-papier-appelle-a-un-rassemblement-le-samedi-2-aout.html

"Le Monde" which would describe itself as moderately left of centre picked up on the same inmate who had spoken yesterday to "Liberation" which I linked to in the article above, Ismaël R., a Congolese. It also made mention of the PS (socialist party or French new Labour and main opposition) who have today come out with paragraphs of press releases condemning the government's policies on migration detention in quite lyrical terms. Whoever looks after PS outrage during the August holidays obviously thought invoking the values of the republic would look good on their CV. I have often personally felt that you can't really invoke the values of the french republic unless you do either of two things : get a tit out and lead a rucking revolutionary party over a barricade or wear a phrygian liberty cap whilst taking the head off some parasite.
 http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2008/08/03/incidents-entre-sans-papiers-et-forces-de-l-ordre-au-centre-de-retention-du-mesnil-amelot_1079874_3224.html

Whoever does statements no behalf of the governing UMP party in France told "Le Figaro" the Gallic equivalent of England's "Telegraph" ( I can't call the telegraph a british paper, I refuse to believe anyone buys it north of Manchester ) that it was the people protesting the conditions within the detention centre who had incited inmates not only to go on hungerstrike but also try and burn the place down yesterday. & to top that off with a cherry, they blamed the PS for irresponsibilility in invoking the values of the republic and not supporting any possible iniatives to illegalise such protests in future.
 http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2008/08/03/01011-20080803FILWWW00129-retentionincendiel-ump-accuse-le-ps.php
 http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2008/08/03/01011-20080803FILWWW00103-mesnil-amelot-manifestants-en-cause.php

Well golly gosh look ye here :-  http://www.la-croix.com/article/index.jsp?docId=2345509&rubId=4076
The current affairs rag "La Croix" has also found the same hints of premeditation with which I opened this comment. I just found that. gosh how fools seldom differ, no?

Here is the complete statement from the PS person who actually turns out to be quite up (national secretary) Faouzi Lamdaoui and also quite Algerian having been born there. It turns out the shocking bit is not the invocation of the values, but the frank mention of teargas and how it is used to discipline. Odd, my memories seem to include the much worse use of Tasers too. But I suppose the PS are leading up to that. They know best after all, that's why they lost the election to Sarkozy.
 http://www.france-info.com/spip.php?article168533&theme=69&sous_theme=69

Lastly but surely not least the two main telly stations quite took their time about it. TF1 choosing to gurgle on about the Vincennes fire and using file photos whilst France2 actually showed an image of the detention camp in question.
 http://tf1.lci.fr/infos/france/faits-divers/0,,3931255,00-nouvel-incendie-dans-centre-retention-.html

 http://www.lepoint.fr/actualites-societe/incendie-dans-un-centre-de-retention-la-polemique-enfle/920/0/264829

Brice Hortefeux the French minister for imigration has asked the chief of police for Seine-et-Marne the northern Parisien district where the Mesnil-Amelot is located to prohibit a protest meeting scheduled for this Saturday by the group SOS sans papiers.

Meanwhile Ahmed Bouhlel and Khaled Troudi 2 inmates in the camp have seen charges against them for burning their beds last weekend shelved. They have been "given the benefit of the doubt" or «au bénéfice du doute» which is the French legal code for these things.

But they are still being deported.

 http://www.liberation.fr/actualite/societe/343137.FR.php