ANVITA’s Simultaneous Ceremonies in France of Republican Sponsorship of Exiled Persons
ANVITA (L’Association Nationale
des Villes et Territoires Accueillants)
Co-Chairs
Damien Carême and Jeanne Barseghian
Start of Project
12/18/2021
End of Project
12/18/2021
Overview
On 18 December 2021, ANVITA coordinated the organisation of numerous Republican Sponsorship ceremonies throughout France, organised by some twenty local authorities, in collaboration with local associations, thus enabling the sponsorship of more than 300 exiled persons. Republican sponsorship has a symbolic and non-legal value, in other words, it has no direct influence on obtaining a residence permit. However, the sponsorship contributes to creating a movement of opinion to restore the right of undocumented migrants, exiles and refugees to citizenship and is part of our common will to put in place another immigration and reception policy. Among the participating cities; Arcueil, Barberaz, Clermont-Ferrand, Chambéry, Cognin, Die, Grenoble, La Flèche, Louvigny, Lyon, Malakoff, Paris, Rouen, Saint-Baldoph, Strasbourg, Tours and Villeurbanne. Several cities included their sponsorship ceremony in a wider programme around International Migrants Day (film screenings, broadcasting of testimonies, festive times open to the public, etc.). Other cities in the network that were not able to organise an event made a significant contribution to supporting the initiative, notably the city of Montpellier. The city of Bègles organised a convivial event with all the people sponsored since 2014 accompanied by their sponsors. Finally, cities that are not members of the network have also followed the approach by organising Republican sponsorship ceremonies. This is the case of the towns of St Père-sous-Vézelay, Island and Asquins located in the Yonne department. For ANVITA, this event was an opportunity to advocate for the right to citizenship, to make the situation of migrants in France visible, and to call on the State and public authorities to address the continuing deterioration of the conditions of reception of exiles in France.
Expected Impact
Exiled people are sponsored (feedback from organisers).
The event has a national ambition (number of organising cities).
Advocacy for local citizenship of people is promoted (CP, press coverage).
Lessons Learned
This key event must be planned in collaboration with the exiles and the organizations; an initial connection must already exist between the sponsors and the sponsored individuals.
The sponsor-sponsee relationship must extend beyond the ceremony to create a genuine bond and ensure that the individual feels supported beyond the day of the event.
The event must be as formal as possible (elected officials wearing sashes, a symbolic venue, etc.) to lend weight to the occasion.
The ceremony must be clearly understood by the exiles (its symbolic significance) so as not to raise false hopes.
Priority Objectives
Protecting those most vulnerable
Eliminating all forms of discrimination and promote evidence-based public discourse
Supporting reception and advancing community sponsorship initiatives