France: Experts criticize the statements of the French Interior Minister
Aryan Community News Agency – The Minister of the Interior of France says that the deportation of criminal foreigners from France has increased, and at the beginning of the new administrative year, he will present new proposals in this direction to the Parliament. Experts evaluate these statements as unrealistic and deceptive.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanen announced on Saturday, July 30, that during the last two years, about 2,000 “criminal foreigners” have been deported from France. He said it was an “unprecedented increase” that should continue.
The interior minister made the comments as he opened a new administrative detention center (CRA) for criminal or illegal immigrants in the city of Lyon. Foreigners or immigrants who are going to be deported from France are kept in administrative detention centers.
He said that the Lyon center will have a capacity of 140 people, and with the opening of a new center in 2023, the capacity of arresting foreign criminals in Lyon will reach 280, i.e. double. About 200 border police will be employed in these detention centers.
Fresh offers for the new office year
Gérald Darmenen also said that at the start of the new administrative year in September, he will propose new legal reforms to parliament to remove restrictions on deporting criminal foreigners from France.
Among these proposals, the interior minister is considering removing legal restrictions on the deportation of criminals who are married to a Frenchman, or who entered France before the age of 13. He stressed, however, that this would only include people who had committed a “serious crime or misconduct.”
Experts evaluate the statements of the Minister of Interior regarding the deportation of criminals as unrealistic and even deceptive. Mark Duranton, a legal expert at Simad Organization, evaluates this statement as “political” and to reassure the public about the legal rights of criminals.
According to this expert, contrary to the statements of the Minister of Interior, “marriage to a Frenchman alone cannot prevent the deportation of a criminal from France.” This expression is deceptive.
In this regard, Stephane Mojander, an expert and legal lawyer for foreigners in France, told Mohajer News in July that according to the law, a criminal foreigner can, regardless of the special status (marriage to a Frenchman, having family ties or residing in France less (for a period of ten years) to be expelled from France.
Obligation to comply with all legal procedures for deporting people
According to this expert, what is important from a legal point of view is that during the process of deporting people, all legal procedures are completed and Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights is not violated.
The Minister of the Interior of France has also said in his statements that he also takes responsibility for the principle of “double punishment” in the case of foreign criminals. This means that foreigners who have spent a prison term in France due to committing a crime will be deported from France at the end of this period.
According to legal expert Simad, this legal process is not new and has been in French criminal law since the end of the 19th century.
The Minister of Interior has also said that he intends to increase the one-year period of forced departure from French territory (OQTF) to two years, in order to better prepare the ground for appeals.
Simad organization believes that such an action “will increase the number of people who will be deprived of their social and administrative rights.”