FRANCE: France will grant residency permits to roughly 6,000 illegal immigrants but expel more than twice as many under controversial new immigration rules

Record ID: 588895

  • Title: FRANCE: France will grant residency permits to roughly 6,000 illegal immigrants but expel more than twice as many under controversial new immigration rules
  • Date: 25th July 2006
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (French) MAURITANIAN IMMIGRANT DIAFARA CAMARA SAYING: "This is all just to reassure the French people before the holidays start, to tell them: "See? We're not giving papers to all the immigrants, just some of them." But everyone knows that it's technically and physically impossible to kick these families out of the country. So it's just a political announcement"
  • Embargoed: 9th August 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: International Relations,People
  • Reuters ID: LVAF5EWGJC2MLCS4O4AJ3HR5VVVL
  • Story Text: France will grant residency permits to roughly 6,000 illegal immigrants but expel more than twice as many under controversial new immigration rules, its interior minister said on Monday (July 24).
    Nicolas Sarkozy, the conservative presidential frontrunner, tightened residency rules after youths in poor suburbs, many of them home to descendants of immigrants, went on the rampage last year in a wave of rioting that shocked France.
    The government has decided to use children registered at French schools as a way of tracking down families without residency papers. Sarkozy has previously vowed to expel the youngsters and their parents during the summer holidays.
    Sarkozy announced that of up to 20,000 expected requests for residency permits by illegal immigrants, roughly 30 percent, or 6,000, would be granted.
    But the remainder would be turned down.
    "The more you give papers to everyone, the more you attract networks who exploit human misery and make people believe that coming to the country and holding out for a few months will guarantee everyone their papers. That's why I am saying it as clearly as I possibly can: there will be no mass legalisation of immigrants in France," said Sarkozy.
    Some 4.5 million immigrants live in France, official data shows, and the interior ministry estimates there are between 200,000 and 400,000 illegal foreigners in the country.
    "This immigration [law] will make the immigration problems that we already have much worse, and secondly this new immigration [law] will open the door to immigrants from all over the country," said Conservative politician Philippe De Villiers.
    The campaign has provoked widespread unease, with opponents accusing Sarkozy of targeting the weak and defenceless as part of his bid to woo hard right voters.
    "They're using the children to get to us adults, to catch us and deport us," said one illegal immigrant.
    "I think it would be better if they allowed all parents to stay. Because according to their directive, if a child is 12 years' old, then its parents application will be successful; but if it's only a year old, then what are its parents to do?," added Bangladeshi Immigrant Komol Chakma.
    In an effort to take the sting out of growing protests, he announced last month that some illegal immigrants would be granted residency if their children did not have any links to their country of origin.
    That concession has led to the authorities being swamped with thousands of illegal immigrants seeking to convince officials their family met the new requirements.
    Sarkozy had previously said only that several thousand people would be allowed to stay.
    If confirmed, the number of immigrants granted residency papers will be lower than some of Sarkozy's opponents had forecast. Socialist spokesman Julien Dray had said some officials were talking of 40,000 residency permits.
    Sarkozy said he was seeking a middle ground between the opposition Socialists on one side and far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen on the other.
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