the Ministry of the Interior admits to having asked for an assessment but not a file

2023-05-21 22:11:42

In front of a school in Toulouse, in June 2020. LIONEL BONAVENTURE / AFP

The Ministry of the Interior has asked certain academies for a “assessment of the absenteeism rate observed during Eid-el-Fitr” but deny everything “file”declared Sunday, May 21 Sonia Backès, Secretary of State in charge of citizenship, after the indignation aroused by the initiative.

“The Ministry of the Interior and Overseas regularly studies the impact of certain religious holidays on the functioning of public services, and in particular within the school sphere”she said in a communiqué. “It is within this framework that an evaluation of the rate of absenteeism observed on the occasion of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, on April 21, was requested, in certain academies, from the heads of establishment. »

“No personal data was requested or recorded at any time”assures Ms. Backès, adding that the initiative was not the result of a will of “file” students according to their denomination.

Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers In Montpellier and Toulouse, the teaching staff invited to identify the absent pupils on the day of the Eid-el-Fitr holiday

Clumsiness

In the Toulouse academy, police officers asked the heads of the city’s establishments by email to tell them the number of students absent on Eid day. Association, trade union or political leaders were concerned about this police initiative, some, like the former socialist deputy Jean-Christophe Cambadelis, evoking “a citywide listing”.

The police request is “particularly shocking in that it associates Muslim religious practice with a question of security”, was indignant SOS Racisme, recalling that the request to schools came from the departmental directorate of public security (DDSP). The Sud Education union, for its part, denounced “Islamophobic excesses” in administration. “AESH colleagues and agents have been refused leave of absence”for the day of the feast, unlike teachers, he adds.

The Union of French Mosques for its part asked for a “due investigation”. “Families must be duly informed and reassured of the future of the information given by certain heads of establishments who, unfortunately, responded to the request of the police”she said.

The request of the police had been made directly to the establishments concerned, without the approval of the rectorate of Toulouse. “In no case do we carry out investigations of this kind”, Mostafa Fourar, rector of the academy, told AFP. A source familiar with the matter had mentioned a ” clumsiness “ in the formulation of the request relayed by the referent police officers of the National Education for the benefit of territorial intelligence.

The World with AFP