foreigners having the obligation to leave the territory soon in the file of wanted persons?

Does registering foreigners who have the obligation to leave French territory (OQTF) in the file of wanted persons mean that people who are deportable will be particularly wanted by the police? The Ministry of the Interior assures us not. The file of wanted persons is accessible to police, gendarmes or customs officers. In total, 580,000 names appear there today.

For the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, it is not a question, with this filing, of tracking down illegal immigrants, but of better counting departures. “When someone leaves the national territory on their own, they are not counted in the departures, because they are not in the police files“, specified the Minister. Currently, a foreigner in an irregular situation targeted by an OQTF can leave France without his passage being reported. Tomorrow, the registration in the file of wanted persons will make it possible to systematically leave a trace during a control at the border.

The government has been under pressure since the Lola affair. The number of evictions is falling: in 2017, 85,268 OQTFs were pronounced, but 26,783 were carried out, i.e. just under a third. In 2021, 122,237 OQTFs were pronounced, and 16,819 carried out, i.e. 13.7%. The government now wants all OQTFs to be applied.