They have been living in Switzerland for many years. They have started families. Their kids are in school. Then one day, they are taken into custody, without a trial, without a sentence. Merely because they don’t have the necessary papers, their freedom can be taken away, and they can be held in custody for up to two years before being threatened with deportation.
After shedding light on the conditions inside a detention center for asylum seekers in LA FORTERESSE (2008), Fernand Melgar turns his focus in this film to the final stage of the migration process – one of the 28 deportation centers in Switzerland for illegal immigrants (“sans-papiers”) and asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected. After winning the trust of the prison administration and the inmates, Melgar was able to film inside the institution for nine months.
Members of the staff sincerely do the best they can to create humane conditions in the center, keeping the men busy with cooking and sports. One inmate musician organizes reggae sessions that not only his fellow inmates join, but also the guards. When bad news has to be delivered, the men are told gently. Instead of trying to demonize the people working in the centers, the film demonstrates the administrative system behind this merciless process. By merely showing the concrete dynamics between the guards and the detainees, the injustice over which they have no control becomes visible.
The film also touches on the theme of this year’s festival – one of the protagonists is a Roma from Kosovo. He is also sent back on a special flight, after having lived in Switzerland for 20 years.
