- “My name is Martine Landry, I am 73 years old. I am in danger of being imprisoned for helping two young foreigners.” This is the story of a French woman who has been at Amnesty International for 15 years; she lives near the Italian border and helps young migrants who arrive in France. On Wednesday, two Guinean teenagers were sentenced for having been transferred from the Italian checkpoint to a foster home in France last July, for “the crime of solidarity”.
Landry walks around the Menton-Garavan train station, watching closely what the police do with the migrants who travel there and whether they are sent back to Italy to try to help the migrants. In July 2017, when he learned that two Guinean minors who had applied for Social Protection for Children had been returned to the Italian border post, he came and took them to a foster home in France. For French law, this is a “crime of solidarity”.
Five years in prison
Two days after Emmanuel Macron’s decision to legalise the situation of Mamaudou Gassama, with a big surprise, we have this fact that better reflects the government’s immigration policy, since the person who helps a foreigner enter the country “in an unlegal way” is sentenced to five years in prison and a fine of 30,000 euros by the French State law. What is known as the “crime of solidarity” was rejected by several politicians in the National Assembly, but President Macron was clear: “The crime of solidarity can be adapted, but not eliminated.”