Human Rights Watch is denouncing a bill on immigration and asylum before the French Parliament.
Human Rights Watch is denouncing a bill on immigration and asylum before the French Parliament. It said the bill could put migrant protection at risk in the country.
The bill on immigration and asylum presented to the French Parliament could “jeopardize” access to protection and should be revised, Human Rights Watch said. “Under the guise of providing a more effective asylum system, the bill includes a series of measures that would diminish access to protection,” said Bénédicte Jeannerod, France director at Human Rights Watch.”The few – albeit significant – positive measures in the bill cannot hide the concerns it raises for people who were at risk in their home countries.”
Reduced time for asylum applications and appeals
The organisation is concerned over some measures included in the bill, including the reduction of the period for filing an asylum application from 120 days after entering French territory to 90 days. “Asylum seekers face significant obstacles to filing their applications, in many cases finding it difficult or impossible to get legal or other assistance they need, within a shorter time period,” HRW said. Applications filed after that deadline would be considered under an accelerated procedure “that could diminish the quality of the examination, especially in complex cases”. In addition, the proposed law would reduce the time for migrants to submit an appeal over a denied asylum request from one month to 15 days, which HRW said “risks depriving (migrants) of an effective remedy, with severe and far reaching consequences.
Possible expulsions during appeal review
HRW said currently in France the right to appeal allows an asylum seeker to remain in the country under provisions that suspend removal until the appeal is decided upon. It said the bill would provide for non-suspensive appeals, introducing a risk of being removed from France before an appeal is decided, for “applicants who are nationals of safe countries of origin, those whose application for a re-examination has been rejected and those who pose a serious threat to public order.” HRW said the bill would increase the maximum administrative detention period for those awaiting deportation from 45 to 90 days, contradicting repeated calls to reduce this. Although EU law allows member states to detain people pending deportation for up to 18 months, it also allows states to adopt more favorable provisions. It said the draft law does not address the issue of the detention of migrant children, when it could have been “an opportunity for France to abolish this practice”.
Fonte: Infomigrants – 23/04/2018
