Arenc affair information

Arenc detention center
Centre de rétention d'Arenc
Warehouse location
Location within France
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 / 43.31222; 5.36111
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 [fr] 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 [fr], which were brought into law in October 1981.