COUNTRY FACTSHEET: FRANCE 2014

Transcription

1 COUNTRY FACTSHEET: FRANCE 2014 EUROPEAN MIGRATION NETWORK 1. Introduction This EMN Country Factsheet provides a factual overview of the main policy developments in migration and international protection in France during 2014, including latest statistics. 2. Common European Asylum System The new Dublin III regulation 1 has been applied in France since January 2014, and the transposition of the revised CEAS more widely has provided the French government with an opportunity for an in-depth reform of the national asylum system. Following a national consultation in 2013 supported by four thematic working groups, a draft Law on asylum reform was prepared in 2014, based also on the Directives in the asylum package. The reform aims to strengthen the legal protection offered to asylum seekers; reduce processing times; ensure decent reception conditions; improve efficiency; and limit misuse. The Law reforming the right of asylum was promulgated on 29 th July Other legal reforms in the asylum field implemented in 2014 included: adapting the regulatory part of the Code on the Entry and Residence of Foreigners and the Right to Asylum to extend to individuals who are granted international protection the status of longterm resident (Decree No of 6 th March 2014). Information notes were also issued identifying reforms in respect of the residence rights of parents of minors who have been granted international protection; and on asylum applications made by foreigners placed in administrative detention pending their repatriation. Two countries were removed from the national list of safe countries of origin (Kosovo and Ukraine). France continued to cooperate with the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), for example, through participation in practical cooperation workshops to address the issue of trafficking in human beings (THB); contributing to the redrafting of the 'Exclusion' 1 Regulation (EU) No 604/2013 module from the EASO training curriculum; supporting the development of a practical tool aimed to ensure compliance with the procedural guarantees governing asylum interviews; and the provision of direct support under EASO s Special Support Plan for Italy. France continued to participate in UNHCR Resettlement Programmes, including those from Syria and Iraq. 3. Unaccompanied Minors and other Vulnerable Groups Following the introduction of circular of 31 May 2013 on the modalities of care for UAMs, which introduced a national system for shelter, assessment and orientation of UAMs, consequences in 2014 were reflected when regulating the arrivals flows of UAMs in a more equitable way between all the départements in Metropolitan France, as part of a national equalisation and to ensure appropriate care conditions 2. Operationally, the thematic reference groups established as part of the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (Office français de protection des réfugiés et apatrides) Action Plan, continued to work in 2014 on cross-cutting issues such as: violence towards women, sexual orientation, unaccompanied minors, human trafficking and torture. 4. European Policy on Legal migration and Integration 4.1. PROMOTING LEGAL MIGRATION CHANNELS French embassies and consulates are responsible for providing information and raising awareness among applicants wishing to migrate to France. Several actors also promote information on legal migration to France: Campus France for students, Euraxess for researchers and Business France for investors. 2 However, a decision of the Council of State on 30th January 2015 repealed the provisions of the circular of 31 May 2013 which provided for this distribution system, on the ground that it fell under the law and the Minister of Justice was not responsible to issue it. Migration & Home Affairs

2 4.2. ECONOMIC MIGRATION A number of measures were introduced to facilitate admission for legal migrants, notably for highly qualified foreign nationals. A consultation exercise and a debate in Parliament in 2013 identified the need to simplify economic migration procedures, to broaden the multi-annual residence permit and to establish a residence permit specifically for qualified foreign nationals. This approach was confirmed in principle and announced on 17 th February 2014 by the National Strategic Council for Attractiveness (CSA). A draft Law on the rights for foreigners was also submitted to Parliament setting out the details of a new multi-annual residence permit designed for qualified foreign workers - the talent passport - with a maximum duration of four years. This new permit includes nine categories, reflecting economic needs, targeting young graduates, scientists, highly qualified workers, investors, executives, entrepreneurs, inter-company transferees, artists and foreign workers internationally recognised in a scientific, literary, intellectual, educational or sporting field. A further development was the implementation of Decree No of 18 th August 2014 which exempted third-country nationals living in France under a 'working holiday' visa from the obligation to apply for a residence or work permit. The visa is granted to third-country nationals visiting France for tourist or cultural reasons, who may occasionally wish to work in France. France's attractiveness for students and researchers from third countries remains one of the government's priorities. The Decree No of 18 th August 2014 introduced flexibility for these groups by removing the requirement, amongst others, for students to apply for a temporary residence permit four months before expiry of their student residence permit. Improved flexibilities for researchers now include the renewal of residence permits for one year in the event of involuntary loss of employment FAMILY REUNIFICATION No specific measures relating to family reunification were introduced in INTEGRATION Following an evaluation in 2013 of the Reception and Integration Contract (CAI), which forms the basis of migrant integration policy in French society, a number of reforms were introduced. These aimed to strengthen knowledge of the French language; rights and responsibilities as well as the French institutional set-up; plus support to new arrivals at the local level. These reforms are enshrined in the new draft Law on rights for foreigners. Recommendations based on the conclusions of a national evaluation of the government's decentralised departments' 'regional programmes for the integration of immigrant populations' (PRIPI - programmes régionaux d'intégration des populations immigrées), suggested that the new reception policy should identify new directions to guide the implementation of the reception and support policy at the local level MANAGING MIGRATION AND MOBILITY 3 New measures were introduced to improve reception facilities for those requesting visas. The Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and International Development experimented with issuing visas 48 hours after submission of requests - involving China as the first country in the experiment - whilst maintaining the same levels of consular vigilance. No adverse impacts were reported and thus the measure will be extended in 2015 to additional countries (South Africa, India, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar). Progress was reported during the year in the use of biometrics. Of the 189 French consular posts equipped to issue visas, 176 now have equipment enabling them to collate biometric data from applicants, and in the first ten months of the reference period, 65% of visas issued were biometric visas. Only 13 visa services remain to be equipped, however, most of them are very large in scale, i.e. in India, China and Russia. The collection of biometric data in these cases will largely take place in external centres. Operational cooperation through 'Schengen representation' agreements used to issue Schengen visas in third countries continued in France represented 23 Schengen States, i.e. 372 representations in 70 consular posts during the year and participated in other forms of resource pooling, including 'Schengen Houses' in Kinshasa (operated by Belgium) and Praia (operated by Portugal). Developments in Local Schengen Cooperation, principally to harmonise Member States' local practices for issuing visas in third countries, included France s adoption of four new harmonised lists of documents, covering Algeria, Belarus, Cameroon, Cape-Verde, Costa Rica, the United Arab Emirates, Georgia, Kenya, Moldova, Mozambique, the Philippines, Uzbekistan and Ukraine EXTERNAL DIMENSION OF EU MIGRATION POLICY French policy aims to strengthen the contribution made by mobility and migration to the development of countries of origin, and this principle was enshrined in new legislation of 7 th July 2014 on the policy of development and international solidarity (LOPSI - Loi d'orientation et de programmation sur la politique de développement et de solidarité internationale). The new legislation identified migrants as key actors in development and introduced new mechanisms for solidarity-based bilateral banking arrangements, including access to loans, investments, remittances etc. subject to 3 Managing migration and mobility refers to the following themes: visa policy, Schengen governance and border monitoring. 2

3 authorisation granted by the French Prudential Supervisory Authority (ACPR - Autorité de contrôle prudentiel). In relation to diaspora development, France has also strengthened solidarity and support to local development projects driven and jointly financed by migrants and their organisations. Two new programmes were launched in 2014, with Senegal 4 and Mali 5 and a new phase of the PRA/OSIM project 6 was also funded. Programmes to support migrant entrepreneurs were launched in Senegal and Cameroon 7 and Morocco 8, whilst in Tunisia, the Mobility France-Tunisia programme, aiming to mobilise skilled Tunisian diaspora members, was also implemented. 5. Irregular Migration and Return A number of new measures were introduced to improve the effectiveness of controls at external borders, focusing on staff training, increasing the number of controls, and by introducing action plans and protocols. The DCPAF (Central Directorate of the French Border Police - Direction Centrale de la Police Aux Frontières) developed a tool-kit aimed at training PARAFE (the French Automated Schengen Border Crossing System - Passage Automatisé Rapide aux Frontières Extérieures) supervisors. Recognition was granted for 'internal security border control guard' training as a level III qualification registered in the National Directory of Professional Certifications (RNCP - Répertoire national des certifications professionnelles) and as a Level V European qualification (EUROPASS). France also reinforced its cooperation with third countries through concluding an agreement with Brazil aiming to establish a cross-border movement system for residents of the border area between the State of Amapa and French Guiana. Some 74 bilateral cooperation actions with EU third countries took place in 2014 to strengthen control of external borders; the majority of these were with countries in Asia and Africa. Activities focussed on training to combat document fraud. 5.1 THE FIGHT AGAINST FACILITATION OF IRREGULAR MIGRATION Further efforts were made to tackle misuse of existing legal migration channels. These included measures to more systematically offer rejected asylum seekers help to return, and additional investments to prevent the issuance of residence permits based on fraudulent applications. The latter measure was implemented to address the increase in the number of attempted frauds detected, up 4 PAISD - Programme d'appui aux initiatives de solidarité pour le développement 5 Mobility and migration programme for development 6 Support programme for projects of international solidarity organisations from migration 7 Support Programme for Migrants Productive Investment 8 Programme to support the creation of enterprise by Moroccans resident abroad with the French Development Agency 70 % between 2012 and Complementary mechanisms to ensure the validity of documents, such as residence permits and birth certificates have been adopted, some of which were inspired by practices in other Member States. France continued to implement actions to strengthen cooperation with third-countries of transit and origin on migration management. The implementing protocol for the Readmission Agreement in respect of Bosnia Herzegovina was signed on 3 rd July 2014 and is currently being ratified. For Serbia, the Law approving the Protocol signed on 18 th November 2009 came into force on 7 th July RETURN In relation to return legislation and practice, Law No of 26 th May 2014 modified the Law of 30 October 2007, establishing the General Inspector of Prisons, and appointed this body responsible for inspecting the forced return and repatriation of third-country nationals in an irregular situation. France continued its involvement in numerous European and bilateral projects to facilitate return and reintegration, including the EURINT, ERI and ERIN projects, and continued cooperation with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) project MAGNET 2 which was re-launched in June 2014, lasting 24 months. 6. Actions against Trafficking in Human Beings (THB) A significant development was the adoption on 14 th May 2014 of the National Inter-ministerial Action Plan to combat Trafficking in Human Beings 9. The Action Plan lays the foundation for a cross-cutting public policy in this field and identifies three main priorities for action, namely: identifying victims in order to provide better protection; dismantling trafficking networks; and ensuring that combating THB is a public policy in its own right. STATISTICAL ANNEX The Statistical Annex provides an overview of the latest available statistics for France on aspects of migration and asylum ( ), including residence, asylum, unaccompanied minors, irregular migration, return and visas. Where statistics are not yet available, this is indicated in the Annex as N/I and when statistics are not applicable, this is indicated as N/A. 9 The national inter-ministerial action plan to combat THB is available at the following address (in French): 3

4 Statistical Annex: Immigration and Asylum in France ( ) 1. COMMON EUROPEAN ASYLUM SYSTEM Figure 1: Asylum applications as a share of the total population in France, EU average and EU high and low ( ) Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_asyappctza), data extracted 20/07/2015 Figure 2: Number of asylum applications and as a share of the total number of applications in the EU ( ) Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_asyappctza), data extracted 21/07/2015 Table 1: Asylum applications: Top five third-country nationalities ( ) Nationality Nr % of total Nationality Nr % of total Nationality Nr % of total Nationality Russia 4,480 8% Russia 6,015 10% DRC 5,580 8% DRC 5,470 9% Armenia 4,195 7% DRC 5,645 9% Kosovo 5,550 8% Russia 4,205 7% Bangladesh 4,140 7% Sri Lanka 3,985 6% Russia 5,145 8% Bangladesh 3,800 6% DRC 4,105 7% Kosovo 3,715 6% Albania 5,065 8% Albania 3,000 5% Sri Lanka 3,885 7% Albania 2,705 4% Bangladesh 4,505 7% Syria 2,845 4% Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_asyappctza), data extracted 21/07/2015; DRC= Democratic Republic of the Congo Figure 3: Asylum applications: Top five third-country nationalities as a share of EU total per given nationality (2014) Nr % of total Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_asyappctza), data extracted 21/07/2015 4

5 Table 2: Asylum applications - First instance decisions by outcome ( ) Total decisions Positive decisions Refugee status Of which: Subsidiary protection Humanitarian reasons Negative decisions ,220 4,615 3,340 1,275 N/A 37, ,830 8,645 7,070 1,575 N/A 51, ,715 10,705 9,140 1,565 N/A 51, ,500 14,815 11,980 2,835 N/A 53,685 Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_asydcfsta), data extracted 22/07/2015. Figures 4-7: Asylum applications - First instance decisions by outcome ( ) Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_asydcfsta), data extracted 22/07/2015 Figure 8: Negative decision rate for the top five nationalities of applicants at the first instance in comparison with EU for the same given nationality (2014) Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_asydcfsta), data extracted 23/07/2015 Figure 9: Third-country nationals resettled Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_asyresa), data extracted 23/07/2015 5

6 2. UNACCOMPANIED MINORS Figure 10: Unaccompanied minors applying for asylum ( ) Table 3: Unaccompanied minors ( ) Unaccompanied minors (total) N/A N/A N/A N/A Unaccompanied minor asylum applicants Source: Eurostat Asylum applicants considered to be unaccompanied minors by citizenship, age and sex Annual data (rounded) [migr_asyunaa], data extracted 23/07/ EUROPEAN POLICY ON LEGAL MIGRATION AND INTEGRATION Figure 11: First residence permits, by reason ( ) Source: Eurostat (migr_resfirst), data extracted 26/08/2015 Table 4: First residence permits: Top five third-country nationalities ( ) 1. Morocco 23, Algeria 25, Algeria 25, Morocco 25, Algeria 23, Morocco 23, Morocco 24, Algeria 25, China 14, China 15, China 16, China 15, Tunisia 11, Tunisia 12, Tunisia 13, Tunisia 14, USA 10, USA 7, USA 7, USA 7,107 Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_resfirst), data extracted 26/08/2015 Figure 12: Resident population of third-country nationals as a share of total population in France, EU average, EU high and low ( ) Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_pop1ctz), data extracted 23/07/2015 6

7 4. IRREGULAR MIGRATION AND RETURN Table 5: Number of third-country nationals refused entry at external borders ( ) Third country nationals: Refused entry at external borders 11,100 11,310 11,745 11,365 Found to be illegally present 57,975 49,760 48,965 96,375 Ordered to leave 83,440 77,600 84,890 86,955 Returned following an order to leave 20,425 22,760 20,140 19,525 Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_eirfs)(migr_eipre)(migr_eiord)(migr_eirtn), data extracted 24/07/2015 Table 6: Third-country nationals returned ( ) Returned as part of forced return measures Returned voluntarily Returned through an Assisted Voluntary Return Programme ,775 3,923 3, ,769 4,269 4, ,415 3,329 3, * 12,040 2,710 2,710 Source: EMN Country Factsheet 2013 and *EMN Annual Policy Report on Immigration and Asylum 2014, Statistic Annex 5. SECURING EUROPE S EXTERNAL BORDERS Table 7: Number of Schengen visas applications ( ) Uniform visas (short-stay visas) 2,130,471 2,321,534 2,551,196 2,894,996 Source: DG Migration and Home Complete statistics on short-stay visas issued by the Schengen States Figure 14: Uniform visa applications received in France as a share of the total number of uniform visa applications in all Schengen states consulates ( ) Source: DG Migration and Home affairs Complete statistics on short-stay visas issued by the Schengen States Table 8: Top five countries in which the highest number of visa applications for France was lodged Country Number Country Number Country Number Country Number Russia 343,954 Russia 400,063 Russia 413,191 China 562,709 China 254,551 China 296,847 China 355,980 Algeria 426,814 Algeria 207,439 Algeria 260,721 Algeria 300,862 Russia 305,048 Morocco 162,802 Morocco 174,912 Morocco 194,446 Morocco 210,896 Turkey 117,919 Turkey 98,333 Turkey 103,677 Source: DG Migration and Home affairs 6. ACTIONS AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS Table 9: Number of traffickers arrested as suspects and traffickers convicted Convictions Saudi Arabia 102,781 * N/I N/I N/I N/I Arrested / otherwise involved in a N/I N/I N/I N/I criminal proceeding Source: *EMN Annual Policy Report on Immigration and Asylum 2014, Statistic Annex 7

8 7. ASYLUM AND MIGRATION EU FUNDING SOURCES ( AND ) Table 10: Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) allocation to France in euro per area Areas AMIF Asylum 61,900,466 Legal Migration and Integration 103,732,785 Return 87,621,219 Technical Assistance 14,606,107 Special cases (resettlement/transfer) 18,730,000 TOTAL 286,590,577 Source: DG Migration and Home affairs Table 11: Internal Security Fund (ISF) allocation to France in euro per area Areas ISF ISF Borders 51,753,437 ISF SA Frontex - ISF SA Consular cooperation 3,195,000 ISF Borders Emergency Assistance - ISF Police 79,504,401 TOTAL 134,452,838 Source: DG Migration and Home affairs Table 12: SOLID funds allocation in euro and share of total funds allocated to France ( ) SOLID FUNDS TOTAL European Refugee Fund (ERF) N/A 7,142,310( 9.7%) 10,434,904 (10.57%) 10,714,260 (11.4%) 11,727,196 (11.9%) 13,972,940 (13.3%) 15,409,818 (13.6%) 69,401,429 (11.9%) European Return Fund (RF) N/A 5,323,949 (9.6%) 7,006,678 (11.3%) 9,652,232 (11.8%) 12,530,501 (11.5%) 15,746,260 (10.4%) 18,621,477 (10.6%) 68,881,098 (10.9%) European Fund for the Integration of TCN (EIF) 5,132,637 (7.9%) 5,976,342 (7.7%) 14,764,542 (15.1%) 8,130,873 (7.4%) 9,714,303 (7.4%) 13,007,749 (8%) 15,250,915 (8.3%) 71,977,360 (8.7%) External Borders Fund (EBF) 11,266,019 (7.8%) 8,504,173( 6.3%) 10,553,050 (6.6%) 13,972,352 (7.3%) 17,889,234 (7.5%) 24,060,716 (7.5%) 29,974,731 (7%) 116,220,276 (7.2%) Source: DG Migration and Home affairs 8