In an investigation, sent Thursday, November 17, the Minister of the Interior calls for a hardening of efforts to remove undocumented foreigners from France.
by Julia Pascual
Instruction is hand annotated. “Very reported,” it is written in the margin of seven-page mail sent on Thursday, November 17, by the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, to all prefects. He lists a set of directives in order to improve the issuance and execution of obligations to leave French territory (OQTF).
This document is disseminated upstream of the future immigration bill, one of the main objectives of which is to strengthen the expulsions of foreigners in an irregular situation. He intervenes, moreover, a month after the murder of a young girl, Lola, whose suspect is an Algerian national targeted by an OQTF. A drama that has fed on the right the accusations of laxity and helplessness against the government while the rate of execution of the OQTF is structurally low. It was 8.25 % in 2021.
“I ask you to apply to all foreigners under OQTF the method used for the follow-up of delinquent foreigners”, writes the Minister, who opts for a hard approach when, until then, the efforts that He demanded his services focused on foreigners with a threat of public order disorder.
retention or house arrest
Prefects are invited to deliver OQTF in a “systematic” way to “any foreigner in an irregular situation, that is to say after an arrest or a refusal of a residence permit”. The tenant of Place Beauvau announces imminent “organizational and technical” reforms so that the prefects can take OQTF from the expiration of a residence permit. Enough to feed the machine to enact distance measures, even though France is one of the most active European countries in this area. In 2021, nearly 122,000 OQTF were pronounced by the prefectures.
The Minister of the Interior also makes some reminders of instructions to the prefects by encouraging them to take as often as possible OQTFs without a voluntary delay in departure (this is generally thirty days) or Assort “as often as possible” the OQTF of a return ban on the territory. This measure lasts a maximum of two years from the execution of an OQTF and prohibits the person from returning throughout the Schengen area. In 2021, regretted the minister, “only 54 % of OQTF without return delay were accompanied by a return ban”. Mr. Darmanin also requests a “systematic” registration of people under OQTF to the file of people sought.
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