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Thank you for bringing it to our attention. * Elephant Appeal * ebooks * i Jobs * Dating * Shop The Independent [ipaper_lrg_masthead.png] * News + UK o Home News o UK Politics o Crime o This Britain + World o Europe o Americas o Middle East o Asia o Africa o Australasia o World Politics o World History o Novaya Gazeta (English) o US Elections o US Elections Battleground + Business o Business News o Business Comment o Business Analysis & Features o Sharewatch o SME o Market News o Market Epic o Market Heatmaps o Market Screener o Business Directory o ES Business Connections + People o News o Profiles o Diary + Science + Environment o Climate Change o Green Living o Nature + Media o Opinion o TV & Radio o Press o Online o Advertising + Technology + Education o News o Schools o Further o Higher o Primary Tables 2011 o Secondary Tables 2012 o Training & Courses o MBA & Executive + Images + Obituaries + Diary + Corrections + Newsletter + Appeals * Images * Voices * Sport * Tech * Life * Property * Arts + Ents * Travel * Money * IndyBest * Blogs * Student * Offers Selfie at funeral Welfare cap Elephant Appeal George Osborne Greece Michael Gove News > World > Europe Marseille: Europe's most dangerous place to be young [Pg-28-marseille-afp.jpg] [Pg-28-marseille-afp.jpg] Away from its glamorous tourist centre, 15 men have died this year as the city's drug war spirals out of control. John Lichfield reports John Lichfield Author Biography [Lichfield.jpg] John Lichfield John Lichfield has been The Independent's man in Paris since 1997, covering French news. Before that, he was the paper's Foreign Editor and he has also worked in Brussels and Washington. More articles from this journalist IFRAME: http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.independ ent.co.uk%2Fopinion%2Fcommentators%2Fjohn-lichfield%2F&layout=standard& show_faces=false&width=410&action=like&font=arial&colorscheme=light&hei ght=35 Follow John Lichfield Monday 24 September 2012 Print Your friend's email address ____________________ Your email address ____________________ Send Reset Note: We do not store your email address(es) but your IP address will be logged to prevent abuse of this feature. Please read our Legal Terms & Policies A A A Email To understand Marseille catch a bus – bus number 30 from the Bougainville metro station. The route starts at the northern terminus of the metro system, five kilometres from the city centre. It winds past motorways, factories, unofficial rubbish tips and a 10th-century monastery. France's second city sprawls for another 10 kilometres over ridge after ridge of limestone hills. Each is crowned by a white citadel gleaming in the Mediterranean sunshine which, as the bus approaches, turns into a group of shabby tower blocks. Up to the 1960s, these were the scrubland and the hard-scrabble villages of the Marcel Pagnol novels set in the early part of the century. Fragments of the Provençal villages can still be seen. The "garrigue", or scrub, survives on the jagged mountains which crowd in from the east. But Marius, Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources and their descendants have long gone. My fellow passengers on the 45-minute ride to La Savine, one of the northernmost estates, are a blend of North Africans, Africans, Asians and Roma. The bus passes through the poorest districts of the poorest city in France. Almost 40 per cent of people who live here are below the poverty line, compared to 26 per cent in Marseille as a whole and 15 per cent nationally. In the richer, mostly white, areas south of the city centre, the risk of dying before the age of 65 is 23 per cent below the national average. In north Marseille, it is 30 per cent higher than the French average. If you are a teenage boy or young man from northern Marseille, you risk dying long before the age of 65. Fifteen young men, mostly from the city's northern districts, have been shot dead this year as part of a war for the lucrative franchise to sell drugs – mostly cannabis and cocaine – to the people from the wealthier parts of the city and the suburbs. In fact, there have been almost as many killings of young men in the first nine months of 2012 as in the whole of last year. Proportionally, Marseille (population 800,000), now has almost as many drug-related murders as New York (population 8,000,000). Eyeing the issues, the French government has announced emergency action this month to stop the city, which will be the "European capital of culture" from January, from claiming title of the European capital of youth murder. At the end of the bus ride to La Savine, I met Rachida Tir, leader of the estate's resident's association. "For seven years now we have been losing our young men," she said. "This is not just about drug trafficking. That alone cannot explain the killing." "There is a suicidal instinct, a desperation in some of these boys. It starts with failure and rejection at school and the lack of jobs. They see no future. They live for the present, in a world of easy money and, now, violence." Earlier this month, Samia Ghali, the mayor of the 15th and 16th arrondissements of Marseille, which embrace most of the poor northern districts, detonated a verbal bombshell. She said that the drug-related violence in northern Marseille had become so extreme that only the army could defeat it. She called on the government to deploy troops to confiscate the cheap automatic weapons flowing in from the Balkans and North Africa and to interrupt a drug trade which is, she says, conducted with impunity. Ms Ghali, a child of northern Marseilles like Zinedine Zidane and Eric Cantona, admits that her proposal was mostly a "cry of alarm". "I was born and grew up here. I know what I'm talking about," she said. "I can no longer stomach seeing children that I have known since they were born drilled with holes. I cannot forget the distress of the girlfriend of [a recent victim] who found him shot 30 times. It is time to stop the massacre." Ms Ghali, a Socialist, berates the attitude of some politicians and commentators – including the centre-right mayor of Marseille Jean-Claude Gaudin - who dismiss the murders as "règlements de compte" ("tit-for-tat killings" or "a turf war"). "By using that kind of language, you're saying that these murders – and murder is the right word – are separate from polite society or the law," she said. "You are saying, 'let them kill each other'." Back in the busy, friendly centre of Marseille – a different planet from Bougainville and La Savine – I met Laurent Gaudon, a lawyer who has represented families of the victims. He also disputes the phrase "turf war". "Often it is not clear why these kids are dying," he said. "In one case I had last year a boy of 17 was shot because he had been disrespectful to another young man. The killer wanted to prove that he was tough enough to be in a drug gang." Marseille has always had gangland killings, Mr Gaudon said. "This is the city of the French Connection. All the organised crime of the Mediterranean basin passes through here – Corsicans, Sicilians." In the late 1990's the police dismantled the biggest of the old crime gangs. Since then the kids in the poorer estates have gradually taken over the local drugs trade. "The old gangsters had a code of honour but not the new ones," Mr Gaudon said. "The kids can buy guns for next to nothing and they use them for next to nothing." Ms Ghali's call for military intervention was dismissed as absurd by local and national politicians of Left and Right. It was, all the same, hugely successful. Within days, the government had drawn up an action plan to "rescue Marseille". The interior minister, Manuel Valls, and justice minister, Christiane Taubira, were in the city last week to set up a new "priority security zone" in the northern districts. There are to be 230 extra police officers and – for the first time in any French city other than Paris – a proper city police chief or "Prefect de Police". The Prime Minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, has also promised the city the political and economic weight it needs to become a thriving "mediterranean metropolis". The population within the city boundary is relatively poor. Many richer people – the great grand-children of Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources – have moved out to the suburbs. This is the reverse of the usual French pattern where the cities are well-heeled and the inner suburbs poor and troubled. Mr Ayrault this week appointed another Prefect with the Herculean brief to dissolve local political jealousies and create a single, political and economic agglomeration, reconnecting Marseille with its rich satellite towns. He might begin by trying to dissolve the boundary between first and third worlds which begins at Bougainville metro station. "We have been abandoned. Forgotten," said Rachida Tir. "Most people here want to live decent, legal lives. But what choices do they have?" A local mayor said that the drug-related violence was so extreme only the army could defeat it Drug war in numbers 26: Percentage of people in Marseille who live below the poverty line, against 15 per cent nationally. 15: The number of men, mostly from northern districts, shot dead in the city's drug wars. 300: The number of Kalashnikovs reportedly intercepted in Marseille this year. Voices Pretty ornaments, despicable slaughter: The ugly truth behind ivory elephant appeal News Twitter’s most talked about people of 2013 - and Miley's no-where in sight No wonder she's so sad – Miley's nowhere to be seen in Twitter’s most talked about of 2013 people But who did make the top 10? Arts & Entertainment Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins in a scene from 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug' The desolation of the Weinstein brothers filmFilm producers sue Warner Bros for $75m over Hobbit films News Crowboarding: The bird that goes sledging for fun caught on camera video VIDEO Voices We want women to sit at boardroom tables – but we fetishise motherhood voicesJust when you thought you could find a man, get married, and have a baby by the age of 35... it turns out you’re too late, says Grace Dent Arts & Entertainment Damian Lewis has attempted to make amends with Sir Ian McKellen after offending him in a recent interview Damian Lewis apologises to Sir Ian McKellen after 'fruity actor' jibe arts + ents Voices A cultivator of marijuana smelling a plant at his house in Montevideo, Uruguay If our leaders were brave enough, they'd follow in Uruguay's footsteps voicesOwen Jones on the 'war on drugs' * Uruguay becomes first country to legalise marijuana trade Arts & Entertainment Jenna Coleman and Matt Smith in the Doctor Who Christmas special 2013 Watch Matt Smith's final Doctor Who outing in new trailer TV Sport Olivier Giroud of Arsenal, Fernando Torres of Chelsea, Sergio Aguero of Manchester City and Wayne Rooney of Manchester United Champions League draw: Who will English teams face in final 16? sport Arts & Entertainment Peter Sellers, as President Merkin Muffley in Dr Stragelove, using the mythical red phone Lost Peter Sellers films found in skip to be screened at festival film Arts & Entertainment It is 40 years since Abba won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest Abba appeal for your Money, Money, Money music Swedish stars ask fans for £195 pledges on crowd-funding website Arts & Entertainment Carol singer: Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’, from 1994, is one of the last huge Christmas hits Christmas hits: Jingle sells musicAs Mariah Carey and Noddy Holder rake in the royalties from their classics, why there hasn't been a decent festive hit for 20 years? * Christmas songs: the best and the worst Arts & Entertainment Accidents happen: Diana Rigg in Tom Stoppard’s ‘Jumpers’ at the Old Vic in 1972 Not all right on the night theatreAuthor Daniel Rosenthal recalls the mishaps that almost brought the curtain down on the likes of John Gielgud and Diana Rigg News A cafe in France has started charging extra to customers who forget their manners The French café that charges more if you don't say 'please' newsSometimes it pays to be nice Life & Style The wheel thing: a postman and his trusty companion Is this the end of the road for the postman? lifeAs the Royal Mail plans to phase out deliveries on two wheels, it's no wonder posties are in a spin Arts & Entertainment Sam Smith with his Critics' Choice Award Sam Smith wins Brit Awards Critics' Choice musicThe 21-year-old beat Ella Eyre and Chlöe Howl to win the honour Life & Style Food bank volunteers take a break in Rochdale run by Trussell Trust Volunteering is for life, not just for Christmas lifeFull of the joys and want to help your fellow man? December isn't the time to do it Independent Travel Shop [divide.gif] Bruges by Eurostar Three nights from £259pp Find out more [divide.gif] Classical Spain Six nights from £599pp Find out more [divide.gif] South Africa 15 nights from £1,999pp Find out more [divide.gif] Elephant Appeal donate now > Please provide search keyword(s) ____________________ Go * Advanced Search * Article archive * Topics * Most Viewed * Most Commented * Most Shared * Obama delivers his speech next to a sign language interpreter, who has been accused of being a fake Nelson Mandela memorial: ‘Bogus’ interpreter made mockery of Barack Obama’s tribute in Soweto * French café starts charging extra to rude customers * Australia: Gay marriage law reversed by high court less than a week after first weddings * A heroin user prepares the drug in Zhukovsky, near Moscow Krokodil in Mexico? 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View the latest from iJobs Day In a Page * Sun * Mon * Tue * Wed * Thu * Fri * Sat [12] [December.] [2013] (Submit) Go The death of Nelson Mandela: A last chance to offer last respects for Madiba A last chance to offer last respects for Madiba They came and waited patiently in their thousands for a momentary glimpse of their hero, Nelson Mandela We want women to sit at boardroom tables – but we fetishise motherhood Grace Dent We want women to sit at boardroom tables – but we also fetishise motherhood Church versus state: Scientology faces unholy war after court ruling Church versus state: Scientology faces unholy war after court ruling The Supreme Court judgment has profound consequences, meaning it could gain charitable status – and opens the floodgates to claims by other organisations Your Money, Money, Money please - Abba ask fans for £195 pledges on crowd-funding website Your Money, Money, Money please Abba ask fans for £195 pledges on crowd-funding website Lost Peter Sellers films found in skip to be screened at festival Lost Peter Sellers films found in skip to be screened at festival The two thirty minute films have not been seen for 50 years Volunteering is for life, not just for Christmas Volunteering is for life, not just for Christmas Full of the joys and want to help your fellow man? 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Here you will die’ As the world remembers Mandela the hero, the prison where he spent 27 years seems all the more brutal Contenders for Time's Person of the Year Contenders for Time's Person of the Year The American magazine's shortlist is a mixture of the good, the bad and the holy Revealed: how prehistoric 'des res' gave Stone Age Brits a perfect diet Revealed: how prehistoric 'des res' gave Stone Age Brits a perfect diet 25-site survey shows that early humans chose predominantly to live on islands in the flood plains of major rivers * Terms & Policies * Privacy Policy * Cookie policy * Code of Conduct * Complaint form * Email newsletters * RSS * Contact Us * Subscriptions * Apps * Work for us * Evening Standard * Homes & Property * iJobs * Advertising Guide * Syndication * Novaya Gazeta (English) * ES Business Connections * ES Rentals © independent.co.uk The Independent Please provide search keyword(s) ____________________ Go * Advanced Search * Article archive * Topics Quantcast