The General Council of Alpes-Maritimes organized an informational conference on the prevention and identification of the risks of youth radicalization on Thursday, February 19 in Nice. On this occasion, the main measures of the departmental plan to combat this phenomenon were announced by Philippe Bailbe, Deputy Director General of Services in charge of the development of human solidarity.
Right away, Philippe Bailbe mentioned the recent events that have affected the French. These events had sparked very strong emotions worldwide. The attacks on Charlie Hebdo, the hostage-taking at the Hypercacher at Vincennes, the assassination of Hervé Gourdel, the assault on soldiers in Nice, and more recently, the shooting in Copenhagen, Denmark.
“These events remind us how much our societies are exposed to risks that we have rarely perceived as being so close to each of us. The fight against this phenomenon is primarily the responsibility of the State through its sovereign function. But it is not only the responsibility of the State; it concerns us all. Eric Ciotti, president of the General Council, wished for us to bring a new reflection on this global mobilization, through our skills, under the banner of child protection,” emphasized P. Bailbe.
Action measures
New action tools specifically adapted to the context of youth radicalization will be developed by the General Council, in collaboration with its partners. This action plan follows 5 main axes.
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Train and inform professionals and the public. This will involve developing conferences and targeted information actions on the use of social networks and the reinforcement of the principles of living together, secularism, and the values of the Republic. To this end, parents and associations providing specialized prevention actions will be mobilized.
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Prevent and secure reception areas for the public. Behaviors that do not conform to the principles of the Republic must be systematically reported.
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Detection, identification, prevention, and handling of the risk of youth radicalization. Develop a set of actions to detect, better identify, and prevent the risks of radicalization.
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Provide appropriate socio-educational support, especially to help parents. Develop action measures in the field of child protection, adapted to the risks of radicalization.
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Access to rights and benefits. The General Council will ensure that the social benefits paid by the department are not used to finance terrorist enterprises. As soon as there is a sufficiently serious presumption, the benefits will be suspended.
