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France: New immigration law

01 March 1998

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A new immigration law has been adopted with the votes of the ruling Socialist Party (PS) and two smaller left parties. The coalition partners, the Green Party (Les Verts) and the Communist Party, abstained arguing that the new law is not far reaching enough. After several restrictive measures introduced by the previous conservative government, the aim of the reform is to facilitate legal immigration while at the same time to improve measures against illegal immigration. The conservative opposition parties have appealed to the constitutional Council against the law.

Interior Minister Chevènement has been increasingly criticized from among his own ranks by those who voted for the present government last year. The unexpected election victory was achieved after hundreds of thousands protested against the immigration policy of the conservative government. In recognition of this movement which helped to bring the socialist government to power, the first act of the new Interior Minister Chevènment was a decree to regularise the status of thousands of sans papiers (see Statewatch, vol 7 no 3). The guideline for the regularisation has been "readiness to integrate". Meanwhile, the fears critics have been confirmed: the decree has been trap. In contrast to his conservative predecessor, there is now a central data bank with the names, addresses and working places of around 150,000 sans papiers who have expressed in their application a readiness to "integrate". Yet only every second applicant has been granted a regular status despite the fact that almost all have been living and working in France for many years. The remaining migrants are faced with leaving France or going into hiding.

die tageszeitung, 9.4. & 11.4.98.

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