It is probably just one of those coincidences that history keeps secret. The recent appointment by the Prime Minister of former Deputy Georges Fenech as head of Miviludes, the Interministerial Mission for Vigilance and Combat against Sectarian Drifts, comes at a time of severe economic and financial crisis. A difficult period generally accompanied by personal doubts and identity questions, a situation that sects cleverly exploit to search for, welcome, and claim to comfort those who are facing the worst existential uncertainties.
In his report submitted to the Prime Minister, the former Deputy of Rhรดne, an advocate of the “hard line,” recommends the engagement of Parliament to “perpetuate” through a law, the existence and objectives of Miviludes. He also wishes to increase its resources aimed at collecting information and training public officials about sectarian risks. Moreover, advocating for the creation of specialist units including psychologists whose skills would be primarily devoted to victims, Georges Fenech proposes a relatively renewed and pragmatic approach to sectarian dangers.
During the parliamentary committee’s works dedicated to this phenomenon, during which he had already expressed the wish to see the creation of an inquiry commission, the future president of the mission clearly explained that “the topicality of sects was no longer characterized by spectacular news events,” which made it even more challenging to identify their influence work on the ground. Even if the adoption of the About-Picard law of 2001 allows for the criminalization of fraudulent abuse of ignorance or weakness, the new mission should now focus its efforts on protecting the “physical and mental health of minors,” whose number in sects is estimated to be around 20,000. According to the findings of the commission members, some sects have thus established educational institutions with questionable practices: absence of qualified personnel or non-teaching of certain subjects. Nevertheless, the main concern revolves around the numerous means used by sects to approach children such as distance learning, tutoring proposals, the establishment of leisure and holiday centers, and of course, the exploitation of the Internet network. If children, considered as “vectors of propaganda towards their parents,” are generally approached by “insidious” and “concealed” means, Miviludes will strive to consider the conditions of the parental situation that may leave the door open to the actions of sectarian groups.
The objective and maneuvers of sects remain known: to detach the individual from their usual context, a task often facilitated by the recurring personal and professional problems experienced by the victim, and recreate fictitious – and largely monetized – conditions of social and emotional bonds, likely to restore their sense of existence. Hence the probable new strategy of Miviludes: rather than following, listing, and detailing the work of organizations reputed to be sectarian, its action would instead focus more on “sanctioning dangerous drifts” by placing themselves in close proximity to potential victims. A policy once adopted by certain services in the field of economic intelligence, whose effectiveness has since been measured.
