A-Infos (en) France, OCL CA #351 - France-Asile, Gaîté Lyrique, and Unaccompanied Minors: Without Borders! (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

After France-Travail... France-Asile! ---- This system was created by 
the Darmanin Law of January 2024, the creation of "France Asile" 
territorial hubs, the first pilot site of which has just opened in 
Cergy-Pontoise, within the prefecture. The goal is to consolidate 
services: the prefecture, for registering asylum applications; the OFII 
(French Office for Immigration and Integration) for assigning reception 
conditions and assessing the vulnerability of individuals; and the OFPRA 
for processing asylum applications, notably through interviews. The 
government's stated objective is to speed up the process and, where 
appropriate, issue OQTFs as quickly as possible. However, this poses 
serious problems regarding the confidentiality of asylum seekers and the 
administrative processing of their data. Normally, OFPRA must be 
independent and start from scratch when assessing asylum applications. 
This will no longer be the case with "France Asile," as file elements 
will be able to circulate between the different departments located in 
the same building. This mix, with its deleterious effects on the right 
to asylum, is already occurring in CRAs or waiting areas. Furthermore, 
since 2016, 40% of asylum applications have been processed using the 
"accelerated procedure," meaning that applicants can be summoned 
immediately for a personal interview based solely on their initial 
statements, without being able to clarify or correct them beforehand, 
with a high risk of application rejection. With France Asile, this trend 
will accelerate. Source: Collectif Asile IDF

News on the occupation of the Gaîté Lyrique

We previously reported in these columns that the Belleville Park Youth 
Collective had occupied this municipal hall to demand permanent housing 
solutions. After three months of protests, the eviction took place on 
March 18th-in the middle of Ramadan. The police charged in and 
tear-gassed the youth and supporters who had gathered to create a 
barrier between the youth and the police. During this police operation, 
25 youth received OQTF (Orders of Temporary Accommodation). 
Administrative appeals have been filed, and hearing dates are starting. 
To be continued. The end of this protest also meant, for many, a return 
to the streets. In the days following the eviction of the Gaîté Lyrique, 
an encampment of about a hundred tents was set up on Île Saint-Louis. It 
has since been evacuated. A camp of over 200 people was also present in 
the 19th arrondissement. He has also just been deported.

Source: Belleville Park Youth Collective

The Retailleau circular...

The new leader of the "republican right" is using his power as Minister 
of the Interior to pursue far-right interests and multiply xenophobic 
rhetoric and measures. In January, he wrote a new circular on the 
regularization of undocumented immigrants. It replaces the 2012 Valls 
circular, which allowed approximately 30,000 people to be regularized 
each year through work. A circular is an injunction given to the 
prefect, in other words, an order that is executed by the entire chain 
of command and obedience of the State. The following are planned: a 
severe restriction on regularization through work, excluding so-called 
shortage occupations, the list of which has not yet been compiled or 
implemented; Tighter language proficiency and assimilation of the values 
of the Republic requirements for the renewal of most residence permits; 
the requirement to provide proof of 7 years of actual presence in France 
(instead of 5) for a regularization application; and tougher deportation 
and detention measures, consistent with the Senate bill (see below). To 
summarize the spirit of the circular, regularization through work is 
becoming increasingly difficult, encouraging undocumented work and 
increased exploitation of undocumented workers. Thus, targeting 
undocumented workers also means targeting working conditions to push 
them down and ultimately put pressure on all workers. With or without 
papers, all united against the bosses and the state! Source: Le Monde

...Closely followed by Senate bills

On the legislative front, the Senate just passed a bill in mid-May to 
remove the legal advisory role of associations operating in CRAs, such 
as Cimade, France Terre d'Asile, etc. This role would be entrusted to 
the OFII (French Office for the Protection of the Rights of the Child), 
which reports to the Ministry of the Interior. Retailleau - former 
leader of the LR senators - declared regarding these associations: "They 
are exceeding their missions and are actually turning them against the 
state by hindering its actions out of pure activism." The alliance of 
centrist and right-wing senators criticizes the large number of appeals 
that are clogging up the courts. If the law passes, it will take effect 
on January 1, 2026. It remains to be passed through the National 
Assembly, with an "accelerated review procedure" initiated by the 
government. This bill is part of a trio of initiatives put forward by LR 
senators on immigration in recent weeks. One of them aims to extend the 
maximum detention period in CRAs from 90 to 210 days for foreigners 
convicted of a crime or offense punishable by at least five years' 
imprisonment. The other aims to make the granting of certain social 
benefits to foreigners conditional on a minimum residence period in 
France of two years.

Source: Infomigrants

National Coordination of Unaccompanied Minors and Actions in Lille

In early May in Lille, five groups of unaccompanied minors (UMAs) came 
together to coordinate their actions. A first meeting had already taken 
place in Paris last September, at the initiative of the young people of 
the Parc de Belleville. This time, the "Young People in Recourse of 
Bois-Blancs" (a Lille neighborhood) collective was the one inviting 
them. The idea behind this coordination was to exchange ideas with other 
young people from Rouen, Toulouse, Tours, and Paris. A total of around a 
hundred people participated in the discussions. Here is one of the 
statements made at the end of these political meetings: "This weekend 
was an opportunity to share our hopes. We invite young people, teachers, 
residents, and the entire population to join us in the struggle." To be 
continued.

The Lille Unaccompanied Minors collective was born following a 
months-long encampment of around 70 young people in an urban park where 
they organized actions with support from local residents, associations, 
and unions. Last November, the struggle paid off, and the government 
offered them housing solutions, but not always close to Lille and 
without necessarily providing schooling. Mobilization efforts are still 
underway, particularly with the Rectorate. It's worth noting that the 
Nord department hosts the largest number of unaccompanied minors in 
France: 528 in 2024. Also in Lille, after the end of the winter break in 
mid-April, around forty unaccompanied minors found themselves homeless. 
They gathered in front of the city hall at the end of April during a 
city council meeting. Some of them were housed by a parish church, but 
volunteers decided to suspend their housing to protest the government's 
inaction. The mobilization was successful, as they were taken into care 
by the prefecture in the following days. Source: France 3 Hauts-de-France

News from RSI employees

This newspaper reported extensively on the year-long picket line, which 
lasted from November 7, 2021, to November 26, 2022. It was led by 
undocumented workers hired by a temporary employment agency in 
Gennevilliers, specializing in construction. Thirty-four of these 
strikers filed a civil suit against the managers of the RSI agency, as 
well as the CEO of the holding company that has owned RSI since January 
2020, the BELVEDIA group. The Nanterre Judicial Court has just delivered 
its verdict, and the former strikers have been recognized as victims. 
The following were found guilty: the manager of the Gennevilliers 
agency, who received a five-month suspended prison sentence, and two 
"business introducers" who received one and a half year suspended 
sentences, along with fines of several thousand euros. The companies 
prosecuted were also fined EUR250,000, including RSI Gennevilliers. 
However, several issues remain that make this a partial victory. First, 
the fines will go to the state and not to the former strikers. As for 
compensation, another hearing will be required at the labor court. 
Second, the true perpetrators and beneficiaries of the undocumented 
workers' labor are not being investigated: the CEO of the holding 
company was acquitted, while the companies using the labor were not even 
prosecuted. Ultimately, only the people at the end of the RSI agency's 
chain were convicted (and with whom the workers ultimately had a close 
relationship), which is an injustice. Third, regularization of the 
situation has still not been achieved. This must be decided by the 
Nanterre prefecture. The fight continues!

Source: CTSPV press release

The State must cover the transportation costs of all asylum seekers

This was the reminder issued by the Council of State in a ruling dated 
May 6, 2019, as even today, 25% of asylum seekers are not supported by 
the national reception system. These individuals must pay their own 
transportation costs for administrative appointments, particularly at 
the OFPRA or the CNDA. As a reminder, those already receiving support 
for these costs (75% of asylum seekers) are in reception centers for 
asylum seekers (CADA) or in emergency accommodation for asylum seekers 
(HUDA) - managed by state-managed operators. Those not yet receiving 
support live in initial reception facilities for asylum seekers (SPADA) 
- managed by the OFII (French Office for the Interior and Housing) - or 
live with relatives, or even on the streets. According to the law, an 
asylum seeker cannot work for the first six months after their arrival 
in France, and the amount of the ADA (asylum seeker allowance) is only 
EUR190/month for a single person. It is understandable how important it 
is for the state to cover transportation costs. However, the Council of 
State's decision is not binding, so the situation is unlikely to 
improve. Source: Infomigrants

Headquarters of the Undocumented

This is an initiative of Droits devant!!, a collective founded in 1995 
during the undocumented workers' movement. It fights, in particular, 
against racketeering and tax injustice suffered by undocumented workers. 
The initiative brings together approximately 50 associations, 
undocumented workers' committees, unions, and political parties. We 
thought it would be interesting to share their call for action, as it is 
a reminder of capitalism's use of undocumented workers.

"Faced with the government's extreme right-wing stance, particularly 
towards undocumented workers, we are organizing a "Headquarters of the 
Undocumented Workers" on Saturday, April 12th." For several months, 
statements from employers have confirmed what we have known for a long 
time: that there are hundreds of thousands of job vacancies in France in 
key sectors such as catering, cleaning, construction, security, home 
delivery, personal and disability assistance, childcare, and more. A 
workforce that continues to grow. However, these constantly 
under-employed jobs have been filled for decades by the approximately 
700,000 undocumented workers living in France, who have been kept in a 
state of lawlessness by every government for over 40 years. If these 
undocumented workers were to strike together for even a month, entire 
sectors of the French economy would collapse. These undocumented 
workers, overexploited by unscrupulous bosses and governments, must be 
regularized, as they are viewed as a boon by this very cheap labor 
force, which fills the coffers of the French economy, to the detriment 
of the dignity of these hundreds of thousands of modern-day slaves. 
Undocumented workers, far from their land and their loved ones, continue 
their fight against oppression, for equal rights, and their regularization.

Source: Rights Ahead!!

http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4479
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