Arenc detention center | |
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Centre de rétention d'Arenc | |
![]() Warehouse location | |
General information | |
Type | Administrative detention center |
Location | Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, Bouches-du-Rhône department. |
Town or city | Marseille |
Country | France |
Coordinates | 43°18′44″N 5°21′40″E / 43.31222°N 5.36111°E |
Inaugurated | 1963 |
Closed | 2006 |
Other information | |
Number of rooms | 80 |
The Arenc affair began on April 16, 1975 in Marseille, France, when attorney Sixte Ugolini publicly condemned the police's kidnapping of his client, Mohamed Chérif, a Moroccan citizen with legal status. Shortly thereafter, the general public discovered a dormant warehouse located in the port of Arenc that had been covertly used by the prefecture to detain non-nationals (primarily Algerians) awaiting deportation for more than a decade, outside of any established legal framework. The affair foreshadowed the establishment of administrative detention centers , which were brought into law in October 1981.