Utopia 56, France’s Immigrant Encampment

Founded in 2015 in the Calais Jungle (French immigrant encampment), the association Utopia 56 helps undocumented migrants while striving to impose its migration policy (the unconditional reception and massive regularization of all refugees). Over the years, the organization gradually grew throughout France. 

In 2023, journalist Pauline Condomines infiltrated it and in a “Livre Noir” article, a media from the conservative right, she revealed some of Utopia 56 operating modes.

Pauline explained she enlisted in 5 minutes. In the premises of the organization, a large building in Paris that houses several pro-migrant groups, she joined an immense reserve of volunteers (3000+ in 2021).

The recruits are young and primarily female students in social sciences. Some foreign students also got involved during their stay.  Pupils from the prestigious university Sciences Po (social and political sciences) swelled the ranks as the school implemented a Civic Learning Programme in its curricula. Field experience is required to validate the course therefore many students elect to do their civic internship with Utopia 56.

There are around thirty full-time employees who graduated from business, politics, or social faculties, and even one possessing a master’s degree in inter-Mediterranean immigration.

The missions consist of identifying and providing accommodation solutions, distributing material, equipment, and food to migrants while helping them with their administrative and legal procedures.

There is no compulsory commitment to contribute to the activities. Nonparticipation is inconsequential as the association relies on intensive recruitment to function.

During her infiltration, Pauline met Emma, the person in charge of the division “reception and support of the volunteers” (Accueil et Accompagnement des bénévoles) nicknamed the “ACAB” pole. Despite the unambiguous reference, Emma claimed with a smile that the sobriquet apparently doesn’t contain any political allusion.

Pauline was instructed by the association to avoid promising anything to migrants to prevent disappointment. She was also warned not to give her personal number as she would receive incessant marriage requests. She was advised to only call migrants if truly necessary and always hide her phone number.

Members of Utopia 56 also informed her that some migrants can become violent due to the constant police harassment according to them. Yet, they prompted her to ring the authorities if facing intense situations.

Although the assessment of migrants should be the prerogative, this task is often delegated to associations such as France Terre d’Asile (a non-profit organization that supports asylum seekers). Those groups interview, send their reports to the juvenile court judge (juge des enfants), and wait for a decision.

Migrants strive to gain the status of minors as they would be able to benefit from the child welfare (l’Aide Sociales a l’Enfance — ASE) that directly supports and provides suitable accommodation and training until the age of majority.

Some activist officials grant minority status to everyone while others refuse even if a birth certificate is supplied. Indeed, they know that migrants can buy one for as little as 10 euros in the Arab district.

Utopia 56 helps individuals with their appeal. They assist each migrant until the end of the administrative and legal procedures and claim that in 60% of cases, the minority status will be awarded.

Many among the migrants, single men arriving from Guinea or the Ivory Coast,  have been told that France was an Eldorado, that the West became rich thanks to the colonization and it was legitimate for them to come to Europe to be compensated. They are disappointed, having to sleep outside when they enjoy the comfort of a bed in their homeland. 

Every evening, Utopia 56 brings migrant families to individuals’ homes who volunteered to shelter them for the night. However the association regularly organizes demonstrations and when those events occur, the accommodation solutions are all canceled. Utopia 56 would instead provide protest boards to migrants, especially women, and children, and make them sing: “We want a house, the children are sick”.

Despite the constant complaints from families who do not wish to stay up and outside all night, utopia 56 refuses to take them to the volunteers’ homes. They prefer to use them to push their political agenda.

The evacuation of the migrants from the place of the manifestation by the authority always occurs under tremendous tension. Too often their tents are shattered and they end up sleeping in a park without shelter.

Furthermore, a police intelligence note has revealed links between migrant smugglers and employees of Utopia 56. In February 2021, one of the association founders, Yann Manzi, and a member of the board of directors, were arrested in a vehicle carrying life jackets intended for migrants trying to cross the Channel illegally. 

Associations like Utopia 56 receive donations from respectable individuals and even private businesses. However, those represent only a small part of their incomes.

In October 2023, on the TV channel Cnews, journalist Dimitri Pavlenko revealed that nearly 1 billion euros per year were granted by the state choosing to delegate the function of welcoming migrants to those immigration associations.

Many of those organizations are administered by prominent figures from the left. Emmanuelle Cosse, former Minister of Housing (Ministre du Logement) under Francois Hollande, preside Coallia  (97 million in public funding per year). Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, former socialist Minister of Education, supervise France Terre d’Asile (more than 57 million). Fanélie Carrey-Conte, past socialist deputy is the general secretary of Cimade (6.3 million). 

Beside the evident political line influenced by their leadership, those associations have an objective financial interest in promoting mass migration as the subsidies conferred depend on the level of activity. Consequently, socialist ministers while in power have an incentive to put in place policies that would work to their advantage when they oversee those organizations after their mandate.

Those associations profiteer from personal misfortune. They exploit human misery and prosper from the working class (unwilling) support of immigration activities via taxes. Arthur Annan, the former managing director of Equalis (12.6 million budget) attributed to himself a salary of 10,000 euros per month and drove an Audi Q7 worth 90,000 euros paid by the association.

In addition, capitalist companies engaging in social dumping take advantage of the importation of a reserve army of cheap labor fed and housed with taxes that they can therefore remunerate with the absolute minimum to survive.

With mass migration, capitalist companies enjoy the convenience of having at their door-step individuals inclined to work hard and long hours while earning below the standard of the country. They thrive on a system that lets in low-cost workers without legalizing them, workers who would not demand their extra hours to be paid, and even, in some cases, perform undeclared and illegal work.

The far left put a benevolent mask, on the exploitation of the international masses. They are the useful idiots for neoliberal globalists. They are proof that social liberalism and economic liberalism are not opposed but go hand in hand, that there is an objective alliance between the left bourgeoisie and the right bourgeoisie. The former hiding their privilege of class and the latter hiding their exploitation of class, behind a commitment to social justice.

And while associations like Utopia 56 help companies plunder vital global forces to lower labor costs in Western societies, governments compel the indigenous proletariat to pay with their taxes the coming of this unfair competition from the Third World.

Wrong Speak is a free-expression platform that allows varying viewpoints. All views expressed in this article are the author's own.