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The Rhône Prefecture has ordered the closure of «The School of Success», a Muslim educational center for children linked to the Intercultural Center of Décines, in eastern France, which also hosts the Ar-Rahman mosque. The decision follows the identification of discrepancies between the association’s statutes and its actual activities, notably the hosting of 572 children on Wednesday afternoons and weekends outside school holidays, in exchange for an annual fee of 350 euros.
Reporting on the decision on Monday, Le Figaro said the association running the center had been inspected by agents from the Rhône Departmental Service for Youth, Engagement, and Sports (SDJES). According to the prefectural decree cited by the newspaper, inspectors «identified an inconsistency between the structure’s statutes and its activity of hosting children, which was not declared to their services».
The prefecture further stated that the activities carried out by the establishment «effectively correspond to a collective reception of minors (ACM)», even though the structure «does not hold organizer status» for such activities. In addition, authorities said they were unable to verify «the integrity of the individuals present», nor to confirm the vaccination records of the children attending the center.
The site hosting these activities had previously been flagged in a recent parliamentary report as part of «14 ecosystems (…) of Salafist persuasion or affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood», in France. The report warned against forms of «entryism» into local communities and specifically mentioned the Décines mosque, as well as the Al-Kindi school group.
Quoted by Le Figaro, Azzedine Gaci, rector of the Villeurbanne mosque, pointed to «a persistent legal ambiguity regarding the status of religious educational structures hosting minors within mosques». According to the authorities, the reopening of the center will depend on the implementation of corrective measures.
