https://news.vice.com/story/french-farmer-on-trial-for-helping-migrants-to-cross-the-italian-border
On trial for helping migrants
French farmer faces charges for helping migrants cross the Italian border
By Alex Campbell on Jan 5, 2017
A farmer in southern France who smuggled migrants across the country’s border with Italy is waiting to discover his sentence after being prosecuted this week for his actions.
Hailed a hero by many in Europe and denounced by others, 37-year-old Cédric Herrou estimates that so far he has helped more than 400 migrants stuck in Italy pass into France.
Herrou drove the migrants across the border in his van – the same van he uses to deliver eggs in his tiny Alpine village – deftly avoided police checkpoints using mountain lanes, and later provided shelter at his hilltop farm.
VICE News followed Herrou in the autumn, when he opened a temporary refuge housing 53 migrants in a derelict government building high in the Alps. With 15 people already at his home, he’d run out of space. Herrou was arrested just days later and on Wednesday went on trial in Nice for smuggling migrants.
The case typifies the region’s struggle to resolve the migrant crisis and the public disagreement over how to handle it; drawing hundreds of demonstrators sympathetic to his cause to the court steps.
Herrou is the most prominent member in a migrant-helping collective formed in the valley village of Breil-sur-Roya. Their activities are well-documented by the local press and – until the arrest – they were tolerated by authorities.
“It is dangerous,” he told us, shortly before he was detained. “I expect many people would want my arrest. But we are well organized… and the law is completely absurd, and stupid.”
More than 170,000 mostly African refugees and migrants reached Italy in 2016, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Many paid traffickers to pack them into trucks for the long drive across Libya and the Sahara. Almost all clambered aboard the now emblematic rusting vessels which risk disaster to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Italy. But very few intended to remain there.
While European Union law requires refugees to register for asylum in the first EU country they enter, most travellers hope to reach northern Europe – either due to family ties or because of what many believe are better prospects of both asylum and work.
A police crackdown at crossings has created a build-up of migrants in border towns like Italy’s Ventimiglia; a small seaside Riviera city which is a 20-minute drive down spiraling mountain roads from Herrou’s farm in France.
The network of villagers and friends called Herrou to tip him off if they spot children crossing. Some found his house by word of mouth, and he arranged to meet others in person.
“I choose the people who have problems crossing – families, women, children. Choosing them is the most difficult part. There are about 200 families and children in Ventimiglia, every time I go there.”
Up to 600 men are sheltered in Ventimiglia’s sprawling, heavily-policed Red Cross camp in an abandoned industrial estate beside the highway. A further 200 women and children stay at a separate, less intimidating camp in a town church.
Many travellers loiter at the city’s railway station, where police habitually remove them as they attempt to board trains. Others can be seen walking across the tracks and mountain trails at night to evade authorities.
“Most people in Europe say they are sad about the migrants but don’t do anything. I respect their choice, I’m not going to criticize,” Herrou said. “We have two choices: we either lock our doors and turn a deaf ear, or we leave our doors open and listen, which is what’s happening.”
Herrou’s farmhouse is little more than a shack at the top of a steep and winding mountain path; migrants stay in wooden sheds and caravans on his land, gathering to eat around his patio table. For the migrants, this is a confusing leg of a miserable journey but it is far from the worst part. Some appeared amused by Herrou – awkward, bearded and bohemian.
One 17-year-old girl in Herrou’s temporary custody had travelled more than 2,500 miles from Eritrea – alone – before getting into his van. She was fleeing oppression, but also pursuing a dream of becoming a doctor.
“I miss my family. It’s very difficult to live without them,” she said. “Someone told me we’ll be returned to Italy, but I don’t want to return to Italy. I want to go first to Paris and eventually to England or Germany.”
The travellers typically spend three or four days with Herrou before he tries to get them on trains to continue their journey deeper into France.
Sheltering the migrants at his own home is not illegal. But the larger refuge was opened without permission on private property – a response to what he called “an emergency” of 58 migrants at his doorstep.
“I’m not a hero. Here are people who need help and I simply help them. Nothing more,” Herrou said, referring to the many people who support the network’s actions.
“What’s more, France has values. We respect rights. Those who don’t agree should leave as France does not mean closed doors.”
Authorities disagreed. The refuge was shut down a day after VICE News visited. It marked not the end of the road for its residents, but another obstacle in an implausible slog.
Herrou’s legal case may soon be over, but the crisis bringing migrants to his door shows little evidence of a conclusion.
Photo by Dan Bateman
Cover: ASSOCIATED PRESS
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http://www.euronews.com/2017/01/04/french-farmer-on-trial-for-transporting-migrants-across-french-italian-border
FRENCH FARMER ON TRIAL FOR TRANSPORTING MIGRANTS ACROSS FRENCH-ITALIAN BORDER
05/01/2017
A French farmer has gone on trial in Nice, charged with illegally transporting migrants across the French-Italian border, within France, and with helping them to find residence in France.
37-year old Cédric Herrou was supported by a large crowd of activists and well-wishers at his court appearance. Banners were waved reading “I am Cédric” and “crime of solidarity”.
A local newspaper lauded him as man of the year.
Unjust law
Speaking before the hearing, Herrou said that any law against helping those in need should be changed. He believed that the true purpose of the law should be to make society function and enable people to live in harmony.
Fellow residents of the Roya Valley in the Alps have been resisting anti-immigration sentiment by offering aid to African migrants, particularly children, who have entered Europe illegally. Most of those they have helped have been from Eritrea and Sudan.
Lucia Palermo, an Italian artist from Ventimiglia, said that she was concerned about the discrepancy between the acceptance of assistance given to Europeans and the condemnation of help provided to migrants from outside Europe, including refugees.
Suspended sentence
The prosecutor in this case has asked for an eight-month suspended sentence, with driving restrictions. Under French law, Herrou could have faced up to five years in prison and a 30,000 euro fine.
The farmer remains unbowed, vowing to continue his work until the state takes responsibility for the plight of migrants.
A decision is expected on February 10.
https://gdb.voanews.com/59836740-3803-449F-B242-49D8C22A2107_w987_r1_s.jpg
Cedric Herrou, center, a French activist farmer who faces up to five years in prison and 30,000 euros in fines as he goes on trial accused of helping African migrants cross the border from Italy, arrives at the Nice courthouse, southern France, Jan. 4, 2017.
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French volunteers help migrants cross Italian border
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q_FH85tn1Q
Received on Thu Jan 05 2017 - 17:50:06 EST
