French Interior Minister Says Country's Migration Laws Not Strict Enough

PARIS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th May, 2023) France's laws on migration are not strict enough, as they should allow more deportations of immigrants convicted of crime, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has said.

"Are we demanding enough with foreigners coming to France? No. Do we have the capacity to ensure sufficient integration? Not really, it appears. Do we have a reasonably tough approach on deportation of foreigners who have committed crime? Not yet," the minister told the Parisien newspaper.

At the same time, the number of expulsions of foreigners who have committed crime doubled in 2022, Darmanin stated, adding that existing laws do not allow the authorities "to go beyond that."

In February, the French government presented a new bill on asylum and migration.

It provides for the measures to facilitate expulsions of "delinquent" foreigners, a structural reorganization of the asylum system, and a mechanism to integrate certain undocumented workers. This is the "toughest" bill on immigration ever presented by the French government, Darmanin said.

The draft law is actively criticized by French non-governmental organizations supporting migrants and a number of trade unions. The critics of the bill published a petition urging the government to scrap it since it is a "fundamental violation of migrants' rights."

In late April, French Prime Minister Elizabeth Borne said that the government had postponed the consideration of the bill until fall due to a lack of support among lawmakers.