• In Callac, a small rural town in the Côtes-d'Armor, the refugee reception project will not see the light of day.

  • The mayor of the town preferred to give up after the threats received by several elected officials.

  • Fiercely opposed to this project, the far right had demonstrated twice in the town last year.

The atmosphere was so deleterious in his town that he preferred to throw in the towel.

Various left mayor of Callac (Côtes-d'Armor), Jean-Yves Rolland announced on Wednesday the abandonment of the refugee reception project.

Called Horizon and financed by a private fund, this project aimed to revitalize this rural town in Central Brittany by welcoming dozens of refugees over several years in disused buildings in the town.

"Personally, I was for the project but it was no longer tenable, the city council was going to fall," he told AFP.

I made the decision to hear them, to listen to them.

The mayor intended to inform his constituents in the next municipal bulletin but the information "leaked", he lamented.

"It's a shame that it's come to this," he added.

It was a very valuable human project, no doubt very important for Callac in the future.

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Lawmakers targeted by death threats

Since the announcement of the project in the spring, the tension was palpable in the town.

Several elected officials had been intimidated and even threatened with death.

The far right had also tried to mobilize against this project by organizing two demonstrations last year.

At each, counter-demonstrations had taken place, the police keeping the two camps at a distance.

"Even if they weren't necessarily against the project, residents were afraid," said the mayor.

"Despite this, Callac is, and will remain, a land of welcome for all new populations, refugees or not", promises Jean-Yves Rolland, recalling the long tradition of welcoming refugees since the Spanish Civil War in his town.

Eric Zemmour welcomes the abandonment of the project

In a press release, the Endowment Fund (FDM) "regrets" the decision of the elected officials and "denounces the disinformation campaign of far-right groups and media aimed at dividing the population and destabilizing the City Council".



Eric Zemmour also reacted in a tweet to the abandonment of the project.

“I want to say congratulations to my activists who have fought since day one alongside all patriots to prevent this disastrous project to distribute migrants in Callac,” wrote the president of the Reconquest party.

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  • Refugees

  • Far right

  • Controversy

  • Brittany

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