Amine Kessaci was 17 when his brother was killed in one of Marseille’s most notorious neighborhoods
Metropolis Desk-
Amine was 17 years old when his brother’s severely charred body was found in a burning car’s trunk.
He looks up at the dirty high-rise apartments that surround us and adds, “Unfortunately, my brother fell into drugs early.”
In one of Marseille’s most notorious neighborhoods, we are sitting and chatting about his brother, who had been a drug dealer before he was killed.
Amine, now 19 years old, was raised in this area on the Frais-Vallon estate, a sizable and impoverished social housing project marred by gang and drug-related violence in the city’s north. Two young men are lounging nearby on a wall. In the glaring midday sun, drug traffickers operate openly here.
Amine claims that for the youngsters who are raised here and have little access to resources and even fewer opportunities, trafficking is an enticing option.
There aren’t any other choices. No businesses are coming here and offering to pay you more than the minimum wage. Here, people work as security guards, cleaners, or supermarket cashiers. We cannot practice as accountants, attorneys, or judges.
The recent riots, which were especially violent in Marseille, didn’t surprise him. A 27-year-old man was slain in this area while businesses, including a gun store, were looted and vandalized.
The individual who died, according to the prosecution, was struck in the chest by a “flash ball” police rubber bullet. He is believed to have had a heart attack, but the exact circumstances are unknown.
After demonstrations against the police shooting death of Nahel M, 17, in Paris, there was rioting.
Amine claims that nothing will change since “we are always in the same mess, the same sorrow, so I understand the young people’s fury. Although I don’t condone violence, I can understand it.
The riots and their aftermath have made clear how deeply so many French citizens feel abandoned, resentful, and angry.
We encountered Mado, a middle-aged resident of the estate, close to where there used to be a local police station. Many people saw this as a tangible tie to the French state, and its disappearance was a somber symbol of growing estrangement.
Mado says, “Living here is like living in a dumpster.” “It isn’t secure. People urinate on the stairwells and elevators. We are irrelevant to the politicians. In reality, we are nothing.
Mourad, a man, talks aggressively as he informs us that there are rats all over the place.
“Not all of us are entitled to the same rights. Politicians claim there are no second-class citizens in the media, but this is untrue in reality.
But Amine may be the only person who truly understands the severe differences in French society or their effects. He now strives to prevent the estate’s youth from becoming criminals while also providing financial assistance to the families of those who paid the ultimate price.
In Marseille, there were 31 killings committed in connection with drug trafficking last year. There have been 23 so far this year. Most of the victims—2/3—were under the age of 30.
Both the tragedy and the issue have been recognized by the French government.
Marseille will be fixed, as President Emmanuel Macron pledged two years ago. He unveiled a €5 billion (£ 4.3 billion; $ 5.4 billion) strategy to address poverty and violence in the city.
Just before the riots, he returned to the southern port city to show his dedication.
“Everything has to move faster,” President Macron declared at the start of a three-day journey during which he visited the locations of regeneration projects including a police station, a school, a prison, and a hospital.
However, Amine, who has encountered him twice, has lost hope.
“When Macron visits, he does not come to listen to us; he comes to make announcements.”
Even Marseille’s mayor, Benoît Payan, acknowledges the need to unite his city.
“The poor and the wealthy have lived side by side in my community for far too long. between those who are and are not taken into account by the public authority.
It is intended to be a core French virtue. But equality is now a goal in this place.
Source- BBC News
