France: Asylum and immigration (3)
01 January 1991
France: Asylum and immigration
artdoc November=1994
Round-up on deportation and anti-deportation campaigns
More Roma deported to Romania
The Association for the Care of Travellers (ASAV) has denounced
a decision by the prefecture of Yvelines to deport six Romanies
from Carrieres-sur-Seine following a police raid on the
encampment.
"These deportations are not only inhumane, they are
inefficient", as the deportees simply return, said the president
of ASAV, Laurent Elghozi. Elghozi, also mayor of Nanterre, cites
the case of a 30-year-old man deported last September who
returned to be reunited with his wife, who is HIV positive, and
his 2-year-old child.
The living conditions of the Roma at Carrieres-sur-Seine,
without electricity or water, is also causing concern. Catholic
Aid has accused the mayor of deliberately allowing the situation
to degenerate in order to speed up deportation orders. A doctor,
whose son goes to the school opposite the camp, commented: "We
should not show our children the sight of such indifference ...
You cannot but be affected by the sight of a barefoot 2-year-old
in a nightdress in a freezing caravan" (Liberation 23.1.95).
First prosecution for "aiding irregular stay"
A 23-year-old student nurse is being prosecuted for "aiding the
irregular stay of a foreigner", in the first case of its kind
under the Pasqua laws.
The nurse is accused of aiding her Moroccan fiance, Severine
Maazi, whom she was set to marry last November. The couple had
known each other for four years and lived together for one year.
But when they applied to the mayor for a marriage licence, the
nurse refused to show the mayor her fiance's passport when he
demanded it be produced and forwarded on to the police for
verification of immigration status (Le Monde 22, 23.1.95).
"Troublesome" imam avoids deportation
The Administrative Tribunal has overruled a decision to deport
the imam of a mosque at Grenoble. Ahmed Hameurlaine, 32, who has
been licensed to practise as an imam since 1992, was apparently
cited as a "troublemaker" by the rector of the Muslim Institute
of the Paris mosque, who personally asked Pasqua to expel him.
Ahmed Hameurlaine, who is said to be "too political" and close
to the FIS, counters that right-wing Algerians are stirring up
trouble (Le Monde 28.2.95, Liberation 1.3.95).
Mother and baby held at Orly airport
Border police held a three-month-old Algerian baby at Orly
airport with his mother for two days because the baby did not
possess a return visa for France.
The baby's mother had lived in Le Havre since 1980 and had
permission to stay in France till 1998. But the fact that she
had given birth on a visit to Algeria meant that the baby had
Algerian nationality. Pressure from a number of organisations
forced border police to allow mother and baby into France on
"humanitarian grounds" (Liberation 22.1.95).
Young immigrants vulnerable to deportation
Liberation says that "all over France young people in their teens
or early twenties who came to France as young children are
suddenly finding that they have no right to remain in France" as
new laws render youngsters previously legal, illegal. Under the
Pasqua laws, introduced three years ago, prefects have the power
to regularise stay in certain cases. It is young people reaching
the age of 18 who are experiencing the most problems, as the
prefect can use any irregularity, no matter how small, as an
excuse to expel. It could be a late application for a residence
permit, or the fact that their parents did not fully comply with
all the rules on family unification entering France, or the
refusal to recognise the guardianship of a brother, aunt or other
relative. If a young immigrant spent a year in another country,
interrupting his or her residence period in France, this is also
held against them (Liberation 28.2.95).
Schools campaign against deportations