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= Draft: Asylum in France = Seeking asylum in France is a legal right that is admitted by the constitution of France. Meanwhile, the status of recognised asylum seekers are protected by corresponding laws and Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, which France had signed in 25th July, 1951. France is considered as one of the main asylum host countries in Europe. In 2017 there have been 337,143 refugees registered in and up to the end of 2018, 20,710 new asylum seekers have been given legal status to reside in France. Asylum policies in France is regarded as a concerned topic among the public and politicians, and some controversies also exist in the current system of French asylum policies, such as issues on the assimilation policy, national security problems and living conditions of asylum seekers.

The status of asylum seekers
The legal status of seeking asylum in France is guaranteed under the Asylum and Immigration Law. Generally, two types of asylum protections are classified by the French asylum law: Refugee status and Subsidiary status. The Refugee status formally would be given to persons satsifying conditions which defined by Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees of UNHCR. Meanwhile, the subsidiary status could be possibly given to any other type of asylum seekers who do not meet the criteria of a refugee status recognition. Generally, one can be given a subsidiary status as long as he/she proves risks of a threat or serious harm to their personal safety once they return to their origin country[1].

Besides, any of the following situations mentioned by the asylum law could lead to the denial of applications:

(a) An overt threat could be seen and proven if the applicator wishes to enter French territory;

(b) A previous sentence or punishment for terriorism had been imposed on the applicator, which would be regarded as a serious harm to the French society[2].

Applications
All asylum seekers must have entered the French territory before they could start the formal application, otherwise it could not be accpeted[2]. To reach the condition, applicators can either reqeust for a special visa for asylum application from a French embassy/console or get a temporary visa up to 8 days at the crossing point of the French border. Next, asylum seekers will need to register themselves as "asylum seekers" in a "GUDA", which refers to a single-desk contact point and get a formal certificate which allows them to lodge the application form[3]. Some of the documents are needed as shown below:

1) Information required to prove the civil status;

2) Documents that gave the legal entrance of French territory, including a legal entry visa;

3) The record of traveling route from the origin country to France.

4) If exists, the current dwelling address of the applicator in France.

Then applicators would be able to formally apply for the asylum status. In addition, applicators would also need to write an explanation in French that clarifies the intention for seeking asylum in France.

Proceeding
Currently, the OFPRA (French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons) takes charge of all asylum affairs and application proceedings for France. After receiving applications, OFPRA would start an investigation on each applicator from evaluating provided documents to assessments of personal situations, including the situation of origin country, past harm on body, deliberate threat or prosecution that applicators may suffered.

After all information verified and evaluated, the OFPRA would make a decision and notify the applicator whether he/she is granted the asylum status or not. Besides, in a period of one month applicators could also appeal negative decisions to the CNDA (National Court of Asylum). The judge may take about five months.

Further rights of seeking asylum in France
Other than the legal residency in France, asylum seekers could also apply for the French Citizenship as other immigrants. Usually a five-year of dwelling in France territory would be required before the application, for asylum seekers who get a refugee status, that period could be exempted and they could apply for the naturalisation at once if they wish. However, asylum seekers who get a subsidiary status must still obey the normal rule and no exemptions applied.

Support on personal finance and housing would also become available since the asylum seeker starts his or her application procedure. Normally, if the asylum seeker found himself under a specific level which observed by the government, a minimum financial assist equals to €6.80 per day would be given to the asylum seeker at the end of the month (Lump sum). The number of money support could be changed according to different family population of asylum seekers. On housing, asylum seekers could temporarily live in the rooms provided by CADA (Centres for the Reception of Asylum Seekers), which could last for six months before the asylum seeker finished finding his or her own place to live.

Statistics
The number of people seeking asylum in France experienced a significant raise after 1970s. From 1970 to 1995, applications annually for asylun in France increased from nearly 5000 during 1970 to 1974 to 112,200 from 1995 to 1999.

In 2010, France received about 48100 asylum applications which makes it one of the top 5 countries receiving the most asylum seekers.

During 2015-2017 due to the Europe Refugee Crisis, there was an upward trend of asylum applications numbers in France. Applications for asylum in 2015, 2016 and 2017 reached to 71,000, 85,244, 100,412 respectively.

According to OFPRA's statistics, In 2018 nearly 122,743 persons have been registered as asylum seekers residing in France.

Developments of policies
Before 1930s, French presented a relatively open attitude to refugees for its need of labour and the recovery caused by World War I. but the trend changed as the Great Depression occured in 1930s and then France was believed to implement more restrictive policies on immigration and asylum. In early 1933, the Prime Minister Édouard Daladier established an "Intermisterial Commission" focusing on refugee issues. Under the political environment at the moment, refugees in France were connected with national security and issues on employment, also, some voices concerned if refugees could not be assimilated and may cause an integration problem. The trend shortly changed after Daladier left the government in late 1933, and some of the measures were relaxed by the new Prime minister Léon Blum. Two examples for the liberal trend are the receiving of nearly 500,000 Spanish political refugees in 1936, and the interministerial commission's review of the policy in the same year, which confirmed "no restrictions needed" for refugees coming to France.

In 1938 the policy trend changed again as Édouard Daladier returned to the position of Prime Minister. In the next two years, some of the new decrees were imposed by the government on restricting the amount that heading France for asylum. For example, one of the decrees gave officials at borders a broadening power to reject the entry of asylum seekers. In addition, Jews looking for asylum in France were also believed to be targeted to some extent.

In June 1940, the French army was defeated in the Battle of France. With the influences from Nazi Germany, a more racist policy on immigration and asylum was pursued by the new Vichy government. Many refugees, especially for political asylum purposes, lost their special right to continue residing in France, and some of them were sent back to their origin countries, mostly Germany and Italy. The situation continued until the end of World War II. In November 1945, Charles de Gaulle was elected President of France, and a more consistent policy on immigration and asylum became a goal by the new government.

Since 1946, asylum seekers heading for France experienced an increasing trend with the need for recovering the economy, In 1951, French joined the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and formally wrote the right of asylum to its constitution. In July 1952, OFPRA was formally established by a new law, as a professional, independent office for affairs of asylum applications. With the legalisation of refugee status, rights of asylum seekers in France could be protected. Data showed that France received about 15,000 asylum seekers annually on average, until 1960. Yet entering into 1970s to 1980s, applications for asylum increased at a higher pace and then prompted France to change some of its asylum policies.

During the Europe Refugee Crisis since 2015, France responded initially and became one of the five EU members which received 75% of the first-time arivers of asylum seekers. However, some of the EU meausres for distributing asylum seekers were not supported by France, for example a quota system. Then in September 2015, President François Hollande annouced that 24,000 refugees would be finnally received by France in the next two years, he then also stressed "Different conditions" that would lead to a lower receiving amount of asylum seekers for France, compared to Germany.

In May 2017 Emmanuel Macron was elected president of France, and some of the new measures were being taken concerning the asylum policy. In July 2017, new facilities founded by France for dealing with asylum applications were set up in Libya, as a way for releasing the pressure occurred with the flow of asylum seekers and immigrants. Then in January 2018, new amendments of the Asylum and Immigration Law (N. 2018-778) were passed by the National Assembly. And some of the core changes are presented below:


 * 1) All asylum seekers arriving France from land borders will not be able to apply for a "jour franc", which is a full 24-hour protection for removal once they are rejected to enter French territory.


 * 1) Lodging time for asylum applications will be reduced to 90 days, compared to 120 days before the new amendment.
 * 2) Applicators would have a new 7-day period to appeal to OFPRA for a transfer decision, which means being received by any member state within the EU area, rather than the prior 15-day period. However, negative decisions including the recognition of inadmissbility may not warrant the asylum seeker the suspensive effect which keeps them residing in France.
 * 3) A mechanism for the distribution of asylum seekers would be established, which regulates the proportion of asylum seekers being lived in each region. Once an asylum seeker has been sent to a region, it is illegal to leave the region withou getting authorisation from OFII (French Office of Immigration and Integration). The region distributed to an asylum seeker may also change if the assigned region has no extra capacity to receive more applicators.
 * 4) The entrance to the labour market had been released, asylum seekers who wish to get access to a job would face a 6-month time limit for now, compared to the 9-month limit before the reform.

Related issues
Some issues regarding to the asylum policy and the current system in France are being claimed to have affected France negatively, and some of the frequently mentioned aspects have been presented below.

National security
After 2015 the Europe Refugee Crisis, incidents like terrorist attacks that break national security, are partially connected with the asylum policy. After several terrorist attcks happend in France, for example, the Paris attack in November 2015, after which President Hollande announced the National Emergency status across France. Concerns on domestic security was also presumed to be a reason that pulled up the support rate of right-wing parties since 2015, which advocates stricter policies on managing asylum seekers. Some voices also claimed that the influx of islamist radicals and the failure of integration policy had contributed to the deteriorating safety environment of France.

Camps near Calais and living conditions
The living conditons of some asylum seekers in France raised controversies as well. A frequently mentioned case relates to Migrants near Calais and Dunkirk, where refugees built shelters and formed even communities themselves for decades. On the one hand, Living qualities in these temporary camps are described as "dire" by some observers and are criticised as sanitary conditions, medical services and living qualities are reported to be inadequate. However, President Macron also stressed the "illegal actions" that happened by asylum seekers near Calais as they hope to reach the UK and some of the residents had been legally transported to reception centres. Camps near Calais have been announced to be "dismantled" reported in 2015, however, some estimated that 900 asylum seekers are still living near the area.