France Closing Doors to Asylum Seekers

Saturday June 20 marks World Refugee Day, which recognizes the nearly 60 million worldwide who have been displaced by conflict and persecution. Whilst the vast majority of those displaced remain in their own country or poor bordering countries, 1 out of ten go to rich countries. Some countries are more welcoming than others. France is not one of them.

Edmond Sadaka

French policy to asylum seekers is often in the press. Often it is the illegal camps near Calais - nicknamed "the jungle" which are being evacuated. At the beginning of June, Paris authorities evicted 100 people from a camp underneath an overhead metro railway line in the La Chapelle area. Recently, France closed its border with Italy to block asylum seekers. But a story which may have escaped the headlines, it that the French parliament voted through a new law at the end of May which allows the authorities to expel asylum seekers more easily.

Eve Shahshahani of Christian Action to Abolish Torture (ACAT) says that this law used fast-track parliamentary procedure and was not properly examined. She says that it is to enact a European Directive which will simplify and speed up procedures. Whilst this is not a bad aim in itself, she fears that it will lead to refugees being deported more easily. She says that ACAT believes that "through those very technical measures, asylum seekers will be sorted on political assumptions rather than a thorough examination of their asylum claim."

Yet a large percentage of the refugees who make it to Europe bring with them skills and expertise which can contribute to society. One organisation called Singa puts refugees in contact with similar French professionals in order to develop professional projects together. These might be entrepreneurs, professionals or artists.

He says that people come from all different backgrounds. The people who benefit from their programme are of all different ages, they speak 27 different languages and contribute in different ways. One success story is that of Salas, a talented artist from Chad who Singa connected with 5 French artists to organise an exhibition. The exhibition was a success and the group has continued to work together since. Another advantage of this sort of programme is that the newcomers also become more interested in becoming part of their adopted society.

And it not the first time in our history that it has happened. Paul Nesser, Senior Advisor of the Norweigan Refugee Council says that he worked  to integrate the 1.6 million Vietnamese boat people 25 years ago. The Vietnamese people who were rescued were reintegrated into the countries they went to such as Norway and France. But he says that public perception has morphed since, "I think that we have worked ourselves into a culture politically among the larger public of fear and uncertainly. Countries like Britain and France are not taking their fair share of refugees but countries like Germany and Sweden have managed to do a lot to accommodate refugees and have done a lot to keep the public on-side. I think in Europe, we need more humanitarian leadership."

Eve Shashahani, adds that European policy is going in the wrong direction : "it is not by closing doors that we will solve the issue of asylum seekers and migrants coming to Europe. It is through recognising that everyone has a right to protection." She says that France, by adopting a security-focused approach, is following a policy which will cost more money and more lives.