“We do not need a new law to better welcome in France”, reacted on Friday September 16 on franceinfo Hélène Soupios-David, advocacy manager at France Terre d’Asile, after Emmanuel Macron’s announcement on Thursday of a bill on the right of asylum which would be tabled “from the beginning of 2023 “. A law against a “absurd policy” who is both “inefficient and inhumane”. According to France Terre d’Asile, the urgency is to “guarantee a real, dignified reception” and of “put an end to nonsense and hypocrisy”.
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franceinfo: What do you think of this announcement by Emmanuel Macron?
Hélène Soupios-David, advocacy manager at France Terre d’Asile: The last law dates from 2018, it has not been evaluated. In the meantime, there has been the Covid-19, and the majority of the measures necessary to better welcome do not require a law. This comes either from the regulatory level, and therefore from a framework to be put in place at the local level, or from means to be able to respond to the real issues – that is to say a dignified reception given that the majority of people arriving today now in Paris to seek asylum, lived on the street at one point. For that, it is not law that will change things. It also means changing the conditions of integration, making it possible to learn French as early as possible, to have access to the labor market without hindrance. But this is more a matter of administrative obstacles or a lack of means than of a legislative level.
Emmanuel Macron wants faster procedures, including for expulsion? What do you think ?
Wanting to expel more by making a policy of numbers has never worked. What must be avoided is a stigmatizing security escalation that will not allow the issues to be resolved. Faster procedures, yes, but it can’t be rushed procedures. When someone asks for asylum, it can be a matter of life and death. You have to manage to find a balance between being effective on the one hand but without creating consequences that can be very serious for the people concerned on the other.
Emmanuel Macron pleads for a better distribution of foreigners welcomed on the territory, in particular with a distribution mechanism in favor of “rural spaces”. Is this a good solution in your opinion?
You should know that as far as asylum seekers are concerned, this is already the case. They are distributed in accommodations all over France. Afterwards, this raises several questions. We may want to distribute, but this implies an imperative need for consultation with the communities upstream, since in the end, they are the ones who will be the guarantors of the proper installation, of the proper integration of the people on site. We can’t send people to very rural areas if they can’t have access to French lessons, if they can’t get around because they don’t have a car or if they don’t there are no jobs in the area. So, there are still things that need to be considered for this to work. And then the question arises of what it means to distribute. How ? If the person is independent and financially autonomous, can we decide to impose a place to settle? It seems a bit complicated to me.
What should be done as soon as possible?
Let’s start by evaluating [la loi de 2018]. Before embarking on a legislative debate and changes that are not necessary, let us start by removing obstacles which, sometimes, are very practical, very administrative obstacles. Documents that are not accepted when they should be, French lessons that are not available from the start of the procedure, for example. In fact, in France, we have a fairly solid legal framework. But it is often then in the application of the law that it really sins.
And the first emergency is really to guarantee a real, dignified welcome, to put an end to these street situations and it is also to get out of completely absurd situations. For example, we have young people who arrive as minors, who are socially integrated, who are in training, who are learning. Employers need them and at their majority again, following administrative obstacles or practices, they are asked to return to their country when the State has already invested in them and they are supported by their entire social and educational community and their employers. And so, it is to put an end to the absurdities and the hypocrisy which is the most important.