COUNTRY FACTSHEET: France 2015

COUNTRY FACTSHEET: France 2015 EUROPEAN MIGRATION NETWORK 1. Introduction This EMN Country Factsheet provides a factual overview of the main policy developments in migration and international protection in FR during 2015, including latest statistics. 2. Common European Asylum System On 29 th July 2015, France approved Law N. 925, which transposed in the national legislation the Procedure Directive (2013/32/EU) and the Reception Conditions Directive (2013/33/EU). The aim of the new law was to boost asylum seekers rights, to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the asylum procedure, and to guide the accommodation of asylum seekers throughout the country. Specifically, the new Law: introduced in the French legislation the so-called border procedure, whereby non-admitted thirdcountry nationals would be informed about their right to apply for asylum at the border; enabled asylum seekers to request the presence of a counsellor when appearing before the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA) for the interview and to request legal aid before the National Court for Asylum (CNDA) when appealing, regardless of the type (normal or accelerated) of the procedure; replaced the priority procedure 1 with the accelerated procedure, whereby the first instance decision had to be made in 15 days, with the objective to reconcile the right to a fair application process and the need to quickly process the applications that seemed manifestly unfounded; introduced the assessment of special needs for vulnerable persons to be carried out by using a questionnaire at the one-stop shop; allowed asylum seekers to access the labour market 9 months after lodging the application, if the decision had not been taken yet for reasons which were not dependent on the asylum seeker; comprehensively revised the regime applicable to asylum seekers in detention, trying to pursue the need to enforce removals and respect for the right of asylum; modified the first instance decision procedure, broadening the guarantees for applicants for international protection, for instance in the preference the applicants may express on the gender of the interviewer and interpreter, on the language of the interview and in the possibility for the applicant to be accompanied by a lawyer or a voluntary representative. Since autumn 2014, France was confronted with an increased inflows of migrants to Calais, where they tried to reach the UK. To address this phenomenon, 161 new reception and guidance centres were created in Calais in 2015, with the aim to encourage migrants to reconsider their migration plans and apply for asylum in France. Pursuing the same objective, since October 2015, OFPRA s officials 2 set up weekly information sessions on the asylum procedure and accommodation. Overall, in 2015, nearly 2,000 persons decided to apply for asylum in Calais. 1 The priority procedure entails that only the Prefect could decide to launch the priority procedure and it led to losing the right for suspensive appeal against the OFPRA decision and for stay in France once the OFPRA has rejected the asylum application. 2 Although they have been present there since 2014 Migration & Home Affairs

On humanitarian visas, on 9 th July 2015, the Council of State (ruling N. 391392) annulled the ruling of an administrative tribunal which ordered the government to re-examine the requests for visas presented by three Syrian nationals residing in Lebanon, with a view to coming to France to request asylum. The Council of State ruled that the right to seek asylum in France did not extend any rights outside France. On international solidarity, within the relocation mechanism agreed upon at the EU level, France agreed to relocate 30,700 asylum seekers over two years (Circular of 9 th November 2015). The first 19 asylum seekers coming to France were Eritrean nationals from Italy, who landed to the Loire- Atlantique department in November 2015. In 2015, in the context of resettlement, France resettled more than 640 Syrian and Palestinian nationals from Lebanon. Additionally, on 20 th July 2015, France agreed to resettle 2,375 persons under the EU-wide resettlement scheme. Moreover, 1,100 and 1,800 humanitarian visas were issued to Syrian and Iraqi nationals respectively. 3. Unaccompanied Minors and other Vulnerable Groups In 2015, France worked toward the improvement of the conditions for UAMs and vulnerable persons. Following the Council of State s decision on 30 th January 2015, a new distribution mechanism for UAMs throughout the national territory was devised (Law 2016-297 of 14 March 2016) that, compared to the previous mechanism took in greater consideration the best interest of the child. At the local level, the Council of Paris presented an ambitious action plan, implemented throughout 2015, to improve the reception and monitoring of UAMs. The action plan restructured the reception services, tailored them on young people s needs, and provided communities with the necessary resources to ensure high-quality support. In June 2015, the department of Loire-Atlantique carried out an experiment that consisted in housing UAMs in host families, due to the large number of UAMs and the overloading of host places. Finally, an important legislative change was brought about by the law of 29 th July 2015, which introduced in the French law the concept of vulnerability along with a non-exhaustive list of vulnerable persons, and the obligation for the authorities to carry out a vulnerability assessment in the asylum process. 4. European Policy on Legal migration and Integration 4.1. PROMOTING LEGAL MIGRATION CHANNELS In 2015 France continued its efforts to promote channels for legal migration. The Ministry of Interior developed the web module entitled Welcoming foreigners, which aimed to harmonise across the country the information provided to foreign users who wanted to request or renew their residence permits. Moreover, the agency Business France was created in January 2015 and was tasked with promoting the internationalisation of the French economy and supporting foreign investors. For entrepreneurs, France launched in 2015 the French Tech Ticket, which was a welcome package for third-country nationals wishing to set up a start-up in France. The package included a residence permit and an acceleration programme to support the growth of their business. 4.2. ECONOMIC MIGRATION On economic migration, during 2015, the French Parliament worked towards Law n 2016-274, approved on 7 th March 2016. The law aimed to improve the attractiveness of France to highly skilled workers and international students and introduced a multi-annual residence permit for highly qualified workers, called talent passport. The French Parliament worked also towards the transposition of the Intra-Corporate Transferees Directive (2014/66/EU), for which specific provisions were set in the aforementioned law. France also worked on the procedures to transpose the Seasonal Worker Directive (2014/36/EU). However, since the French legislation was already aligned with the main provisions of the Directive, no major change was expected to be introduced. In June 2015, the second edition of the Council for Attractiveness, established in February 2014, took place. The event brought together 22 companies from 16 countries to discuss how to improve the French business environment and overcome the difficulties encountered by entrepreneurs, and how to boost the country s brand image. France worked also towards the improvement of reception conditions for international students (included in Decree of 30 th July 2015); in particular the procedure for issuing residence permits was simplified and accelerated. 2

4.3. FAMILY REUNIFICATION In 2015, France did not implement any legislative change on family reunification. On the practical level, the application form for family reunification was modified and the list of documentary evidence was included, as well as an explanatory note. The aim of this change was to harmonise and simplify the practices on family reunification across departments. 4.4. INTEGRATION During 2015, the French Parliament worked on the review of the reception and integration policy for newly arrived third-country nationals. The results of this work fed into Law n 2016-274, approved on 7 th March 2016. This established an individualised integration pathway for third-country nationals and introduced a Republican Integration Contract, replacing the former Reception and Integration Contract. The new contract proposes a support adapted to the migrant s needs, an operational access to practical, administrative and legal information needed, reinforced and compulsory civic and linguistic training. The level of French language to be achieved was also increased from A.1.1 to A1. On anti-discrimination, on 17 th April 2015, France approved a national action plan against racism and anti-semitism, covering the period 2015-2017. 4.5. MANAGING MIGRATION AND MOBILITY 3 In 2015, France implemented actions aimed at making more efficient issuing visas and crossing borders. In January 2015, the 48-hour visa programme, in place since 2014 with China, has been extended to India, South Africa, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrein, Oman, UAE (although UEA citizens are now exempt from the visa requirement). The exemption of visa in the Schengen area for these UAE nationals was signed on 6 May 2015. The 48-hour timescale applied from the submission of the complete application to the return of the passport with the visa to the applicant. The process of collecting and storing data for issuing visas was made more efficient as the national system VISABIO, which duplicated the Visa Information System (VIS), was phased out. Moreover, the French Visa Information System was reviewed with a view of streamlining the administrative procedures and fostering digitalisation. In November 2015, the France-Visas project included the creation of a multilingual portal where the applicants could apply for visas and monitor their applications. In 2015, a pilot-project called Frontières intelligentes (Smart Borders) was carried out at the port of Cherbourg, the Roissy-Charles De Gaulle airport and Paris Gare du Nord, with the aim of, on the one hand, making easier for frequent travellers to cross borders, and, on the other hand, improve controls. 4.6. EXTERNAL DIMENSION OF EU MIGRATION POLICY In 2015, France continued to work for maximising the development impact of migration and mobility, following the Framework Law on development and international solidarity of July 2014. In this context, in 2015, the French government signed three bi-lateral agreements with the Chilean, Colombian and Algerian government on working-youth exchange. Moreover, France continued to support local development projects co-financed by migrants, and in this context continued the Programme to Support Initiatives of Solidarity for Development with Senegal and the Mobility and Migration Programme for Development with Mali. In 2015, France launched a programme to support the creation of European companies by migrant entrepreneurs funded by the Pan-African Programme and led by Expertise France, CampusFrance, the IRD and the German cooperation. 5. Irregular Migration and Return 5.1. THE FIGHT AGAINST FACILITATION OF IRREGULAR MIGRATION In 2015, the French government signed two letters of intent with the aim of strengthening policy cooperation with Tunisia and Hong Kong, in the fight against irregular migration. In Tunisia, France agreed to fund the modernisation of the automated fingerprint recognition system for a faster identification of Tunisian nationals. In 2015, a new mechanism on assisted voluntary return and reintegration entered into force, with the aim of encouraging voluntary return. Accordingly, minors received the same reintegration contribution as adults, in order to encourage the return of entire families. Also, the amount of the reintegration contribution received by returnees varied according to their group of nationality (visa, visa-free and EU countries) and could be exceptionally increased. In 2015, the Ministry of Interior launched an action plan against fraudulent statements of family relationships, aiming at improving the detection and punishment of such fraud. Finally, France, following the terrorist attack in Paris, introduced border controls in November 2015 until 26 January 2017. 3 Managing migration and mobility refers to the following themes: visa policy, Schengen governance and border monitoring. 3

6. Actions against Trafficking in Human Beings Law n 2015-993, approved on 17 th august 2015 strengthened the rights of victims of trafficking; in particular it introduced an individual assessment carried out by the gendarme or police investigator. Moreover, as part of the national action plan against trafficking in human beings 2014-2016, a circular by the Ministry of Interior was issued on 19 th May 2015 on the conditions for examining applications for residence permits, that required the appointment of a dedicated reference person acting as a single contact point for the central government and for the victims. Finally, the circular of the Ministry of Justice of 22 nd January 2015 requested the prosecutors to further intensify the efforts to prosecute traffickers more effectively. STATISTICAL ANNEX The Statistical Annex provides an overview of the latest available statistics for France on aspects of migration and asylum (2013-2015), including residence, asylum, unaccompanied minors, irregular migration, return and visas. Where statistics are not yet available, this is indicated in the Annex as N/A. 4

Statistical Annex: Immigration and Asylum in France (2012-2015) 1. COMMON EUROPEAN ASYLUM SYSTE M Figure 1: Asylum applications as a share of the total population in France, EU average and EU high and low (2012-2015) Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_asyappctza), data extracted 04/07/2016 Figure 2: asylum applications and as a share of the total number of applications in the EU (2012-2015) Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_asyappctza), data extracted 04/07/2016 Table 1: Asylum applications: Top five third-country nationalities (2012 2015) 2012 2013 2014 2015 Nationality Nr % of total Nationality Nr % of total Nationality Nr % of total Nationality Nr % of total Russia 6,015 10% Congo 5,580 8% Congo 5,470 9% Sudan 5,340 7% Congo 5,645 9% Kosovo 5,550 8% Russia 4,205 7% Syria 4,635 6% Sri Lanka 3,985 6% Russia 5,145 8% Bangladesh 3,800 6% Kosovo 4,275 6% Kosovo 3,715 6% Albania 5,065 8% Albania 3,000 5% Democratic Republic of the Congo 4,040 5% Albania 2,705 4% Bangladesh 4,505 7% Syria 2,845 4% Bangladesh 4,010 5% Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_asyappctza), data extracted 04/07/2016 5

Figure 3: Asylum applications: Top five third-country nationalities as a share of EU total per given nationality (2015) Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_asyappctza), data extracted 04/07/2016 Note: the figure reads as: France received 5,340 asylum applications from Sudan or 48.87% of all asylum applications lodged by Sudan in EU in 2015 Table 2: Asylum applications - First instance decisions by outcome (2012-2015) Total decisions Positive decisions Refugee status Of which: Subsidiary protection Humanitarian reasons Negative decisions 2012 59,810 8,645 7,070 1,575 NA 51,165 2013 61,715 10,705 9,140 1,565 NA 51,010 2014 68,500 14,815 11,980 2,835 NA 53,685 2015 77,910 20,630 16,790 3,845 NA 57,280 Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_asydcfsta), data extracted 04/07/2016 Figures 4-7: Asylum applications - First instance decisions by outcome (2012-2015) Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_asydcfsta), data extracted 04/07/2016 6

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 (2015) Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_asydcfsta), data extracted 04/07/2016 Figure 9: Third-country nationals resettled (2012-2015) Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_asyresa), data extracted 04/07/2016 2. UNACCOMPANIED MINORS Figure 10: Unaccompanied minors applying for asylum (2012-2015) Table 3: Unaccompanied minors (2012-2015) 2012 2013 2014 2015 Unaccompanied minors (total) Unaccompanied minor asylum applicants NA NA NA NA 1,125 1,265 1,945 3,045 Source: Eurostat Asylum applicants considered to be unaccompanied minors by citizenship, age and sex Annual data (rounded) [migr_asyunaa], data extracted 04/07/2016; EMN NCPS 7

3. EUROPEAN POLICY ON LEGAL MIGRATION AND INTEGRATION Figure 11: First residence permits, by reason (2012-2015) Source: Eurostat (migr_resfirst), data extracted 04/07/2016 Table 4: First residence permits: Top five third-country nationalities (2012 2014) 2012 2013 2014 2015 Nationality Number Nationality Number Nationality Number Nationality Number Algeria 25,413 Algeria 25,014 Morocco 25,844 Algeria 27,491 Morocco 23,482 Morocco 24,854 Algeria 25,442 Morocco 26,544 China (including Hong Kong) 15,036 China (including Hong Kong) 16,466 China (including Hong Kong) 15,589 China (including Hong Kong) 15,005 Tunisia 12,237 Tunisia 13,449 Tunisia 14,131 Tunisia 14,011 United States 7,876 United States 7,616 United States 7,202 Comoros 7,668 Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_resfirst), data extracted 04/07/2016 Figure 12: Resident population of third-country nationals as a share of total population in France, EU average, EU high and low (2012-2015) Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_pop1ctz), data extracted 04/07/2016 4. IRREGULAR MIGRATION AND RETURN Table 5: third-country nationals refused entry at external borders (2012 2015) Third country nationals: 2012 2013 2014 2015 Refused entry at external borders 14,455 14,910 15,905 14,950 Found to be illegally present 49,365 57,415 65,365 70,020 Ordered to leave 49,365 57,415 65,365 70,020 Returned following an order to leave 54,180 54,960 49,920 48,685 Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_eirfs)(migr_eipre)(migr_eiord)(migr_eirtn), data extracted 04/07/2016 8

Table 6: Third-country nationals returned (2012-2015) Returned as part of forced return measures Returned voluntarily Returned through an Assisted Voluntary Return Programme 2012 12,769 4,269 3,250 2013 11,415 3,329 3,329 2014 12,040 2,710 2,710 2015 7,039 * * Source: EMN NCPs 5. SECURING EUROPE S EXTERNAL BORDERS Table 7: Schengen visas applications (2012 2015) 2012 2013 2014 2015 Uniform visas (short-stay 2,321,534 2,551,196 2,894,996 3,356,165 visas) Source: DG3Migration 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 (2012-2015) 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, 2012-2015 2012 2013 2014 2015 Country Number Country Number Country Number Country Number Russia 400,063 Russia 413,191 China 562,709 China 762,616 China 296,847 China 355,980 Algeria 426,814 Algeria 554,313 Algeria 260,721 Algeria 300,862 Russia 305,048 Morocco 257,402 Morocco 174,912 Morocco 194,446 Morocco 210,896 Russia 176,250 Turkey 98,333 Turkey 103,677 Source: DG Migration and Home affairs Saudi Arabia 102,781 Saudi Arabia 144,705 9

6. ASYLUM AND MIGRATION EU FUNDING SOURCES (2007-2013 AND 2014-2020) Table 9: Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) Areas AMIF 2014-2020 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 10: Internal Security Fund (ISF) allocation in euro per area Areas ISF 2014-2020 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 allocation in euro per area Table 11: SOLID funds allocation in euro and share of total funds allocated to France (2007-2013) SOLID FUNDS 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 TOTAL European Refugee Fund (ERF) NA 7,142,310 (9.7%) 10,434,90 4 (10.57%) 10,714,26 0 (11.4%) 11,727,19 6 (11.9%) 13,972,94 0 (13.3%) 15,409,81 8 (13.6%) 69,401,429 (11.9%) European Return Fund (RF) NA 5,323,949 (9.6%) 7,006,678 (11.3%) 9,652,232 (11.8%) 12,530,50 1 (11.5%) 15,746,26 0 (10.4%) 18,621,47 7 (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%) 14,764,54 2 (15.1%) 8,130,873 (7.4%) 9,714,303 (7.4%) 13,007,74 9 (8%) 15,250,91 5 (8.3%) 71,977,360 (8.7%) External Borders Fund (EBF) 11,266,01 9 (7.8%) 8,504,173 (6.3%) 10,553,05 0 (6.6%) 13,972,35 2 (7.3%) 17,889,23 4 (7.5%) 24,060,71 6 (7.5%) 29,974,73 1 (7%) 116,220,276 (7.2%) Source: DG Migration and Home affairs Table 12: Inspections carried out to detect employment of irregular migrants and share of inspections as a percentage of the employers in sector (in %) Risk sector 2014 2015 No. % No. % Agriculture, forestry and fishing 10,248 NA 9,336 2.97 Manufacturing NA NA 61 3.94 Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities NA NA 3 0.19 Construction 21,757 NA 31,370 35.68 Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles NA NA 274 17.71 Transportation and storage NA NA 4,974 2.26 Accommodation and food service 14,418 NA 15,418 22.17 10

Risk sector 2014 2015 No. % No. % activities Information and communication NA NA 4 0.26 Financial and insurance activities NA NA 2 0.13 Real estate activities NA NA 14 0.90 Professional, scientific and technical activities Administrative and support service activities NA NA 16 1.03 NA NA 57 3.68 Education NA NA 3 0.19 Human health and social work activities Arts, entertainment and recreation NA NA 13 0.84 NA NA 1,747 0.32 Other service activities NA NA 7,838 7.37 Activities of households as employers; undifferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use NA NA 5 0.32 Source: DG Migration and Home affairs Table 13: inspections in which irregular migrant workers were detected (I) and number of irregular migrant workers detected (IWD) 2015 2014 2015 Risk sector inspections in which irregular migrant irregular migrant workers detected inspections in which irregular migrant irregular migrant workers workers were workers were detected detected detected Agriculture, forestry and fishing 78 80 89 157 Manufacturing 57 60 84 144 Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities NA NA 3 4 Construction 716 722 969 1,415 Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles 304 311 427 628 Transportation and storage NA NA 71 89 Accommodation and food service activities Information and communication Financial and insurance activities 394 405 596 758 NA NA 5 6 NA NA 22 32 Real estate activities NA NA 13 25 11

2014 2015 Risk sector Professional, scientific and technical activities Administrative and support service activities inspections in which irregular migrant workers were detected irregular migrant workers detected inspections in which irregular migrant workers were detected irregular migrant workers detected NA NA 16 26 NA NA 85 145 Education NA NA 3 3 Human health and social work activities Arts, entertainment and recreation NA NA 12 13 NA NA 11 13 Other service activities NA NA 188 243 Activities of households as employers; undifferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use NA NA 5 5 Source: DG Migration and Home affairs 12