Didier Leschi had taken in the middle of the 2015 migratory crisis the head of this organ under the supervision of the Ministry of the Interior which oversees almost all the sides of the immigration.
Le Monde
Since December 2015, it has been leading the French Office for Immigration and Integration (OFII), responsible administration of all sides of immigration to France. The Parliament voted, Wednesday, January 12, for the renewal of Didier Leschi as Director-General of OFII for a new mandate: his major challenge will be “integration” of migrants and refugees.
With twenty-four favorable notices and abstention, the National Assembly – followed by the Senate – announced in a statement the validation of the proposal for the appointment by the President, Emmanuel Macron, with a view to a new mandate of Three years, Prefet Didier Leschi, who has been running the Board since 2015.
🔴 General Directorate of the French Office of Immigration and Integration
Follow the hearing of Didier Leschi, … https://t.co/qyeoggrdbc
“I am very honored that the President of the Republic proposed to be renewed in my duties” and “very affected that this has won the accession of a very large majority of parliamentarians”, reacted Didier Leschi from the France-Presse agency.
In terms of immigration, “we focus too much on the primo-home while the major problem we have is to continue to accompany (…) to employment and housing”, exposed during From a hearing to the National Assembly on Wednesday morning the boss of the OFII, who had been self-employed since 1 January. France “is a long-standing country of immigration, there have never been so many immigrants in this country that today,” he continued before the members.
“In this immigration, the difficulty we have is different from the main European partners, since three quarters of our immigration comes from the southern countries [a higher proportion than other countries], with integration difficulties in employment, relative to language, which does not facilitate integration “.
Mediation mission in Calais
Former prefect delegated to equal opportunities in Seine-Saint-Denis, Didier Leschi, 62, took, in the midst of a migratory crisis, in 2015, the head of this body under the supervision of the Ministry of the Interior. “Swiss state knife”, according to the terms of his leader, the OFII hurss almost all sides of immigration: from the reception of asylum seekers to integration (especially by the French courses) , through the management of regular immigration procedures and assistance with “voluntary” returns of migrants.
On this last point, Didier Leschi announced that about five thousand foreigners in an irregular situation had benefited in 2021 with a “voluntary return” procedure to their country of origin, with a financial consideration, in a context ” difficult “for forced evictions.
At the end of October 2021, Mr. Leschi was mandated by the Government for a mediation mission in Calais, where several activists observed for more than a month a hunger strike to claim a moratorium on the Quasi daily dismantling of camps and denounce the “inhuman” treatment reserved for exiles on the northern coastline.
“We underestimate the state’s effort in Calais,” he insisted during his hearing, recalling that the authorities spend it “on average two million euros per month” for the welcome migrants.