France's immigration policies come under criticism

PARIS, July 16 (Xinhua) -- France's National Commission for the Control of Detention Centers and Reception Zones has launched a scathing on the government for pursuing an internationally-discredited immigration policy with regard to minors, according to a new report.

In its latest report published Tuesday, the government-sponsored agency decried the treatment that is meted out on unaccompanied foreign minors arriving in France, a situation that has already been criticized by international forums.

The establishment of detention centers at airports for minors "whatever their age, has seen our country come under heavy criticism from all international bodies that condemn the practice that is contrary to the principles of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (CIDE)," according to the commission.

Thus, the Geneva-based United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, in a document dated 15 October 2007, said that it was "deeply concerned" by this situation, said the commission's report.

The UN agency also "expressed concern" over the fact that "these children are often, without a prior in-depth analysis of their situation, sent back to countries where they are exposed to the risk of becoming victims of exploitation."

In 2006, the commission report noted that "nearly 500 minors were kept in a holding area for an average of 3.5 days, after which 230 were sent back, 35 were allowed into the country as asylum seekers while 85 were described as having attained the age of majority."

Regarding asylum applications form unaccompanied minors, the French agency reported that the government had received a total of166 requests in 2007, against 158 in 2006.

"Of this number, up to three-quarters were turned down, leading to the repatriation of the children to their country of origin which was not necessarily consistent with their genuine interest in the absence of a good knowledge of the situation in which they would find themselves in," said the commission.

"The upholding of the best interests of the concerned child, which is an urgent recommendation to the government, should be the sole criterion in taking decisions on asylum requests from these minors," according to the report.

In its report, the commission is "calling on the authorities toexplore" ways that "more reliable" and "until then, to apply the principle reaffirmed by the Cassation Court in January 2008."

According to the court, which is France's highest judicial authority, unless there is proof of irregularity in the birth certificate, the medical examinations are still "too vague to challenge the recorded date of birth."

Elsewhere, the main opposition Socialist Party (PS) has also criticized what it has described as "contradictions" of the migration policy pursued by the current French government.

According to the party's national office, the party said contradictions were even more glaring after the publication of the so-called Mazeaud commission's report that tossed out the introduction of quotas for the entry of foreigners wishing to work in France.

"Tasking a commission to work towards the revival work-based immigration while the immigration minister is at the same time announcing an 80 percent increase in the number of expulsion, including many undocumented workers, is the price of injustice and a destabilization of migrants living in France for a long time," said the party.