La France qui accueille
[France that welcomes]
Jean-François Corty,
with Dominique Chivot
Éditions de l’Atelier, 2018
(published in French)
Publisher’s comments
“ We are told that it is impossible to make any more room for refugees in our country. Because there are too many of them, because we lack resources… And yet, against all odds, there is a France which continues to accommodate them. Which France is this? It is made up of people who cross paths with refugees once or twice and who, by the third time, have decided that they can no longer walk past them without taking action. It is made up of mayors who think that their communes do have the resources to host families, that the local population does not stand to lose anything by it, and indeed may have something to gain. It is made up of associations committed to organize a broad and dignified welcome, where solidarity prevails over control and repression. This book offers an overview of an hospitable France: it tells uncompromising stories of welcome and, by way of these experiences, offers a grounding in reality distinct from the pure debate of ideas. Because there is an undeniable proliferation of solidarity in France, though it is all too often counteracted by a lack of political will on behalf of the public authorities, and by a climate of anxiety and wariness. In response to the rhetoric of fear and isolationism, this book sheds light on France as a host, to encourage each and every one of us to be part of it.”
