“Faulty” intervention by the judge of freedoms, “isolated” place, lack of interpreters … The reception in the waiting area of ??migrants disembarked in Toulon from the humanitarian ship Ocean Viking in November 2022 experienced “several malfunctions”, have estimated on Wednesday the rapporteurs of a parliamentary mission.
The reception by France – a first – of these 230 castaways in the Mediterranean after a diplomatic showdown with Italy had sparked a lively controversy.
A total of 190 people, mainly from Bangladesh, Syria or Pakistan, were placed on November 11 in a holiday center transformed into a “temporary waiting area” on the Giens peninsula, in Hyères (Var) , while around forty unaccompanied minors had been cared for by child welfare.
“The record in terms of respect for the rights of people placed” in this waiting area “is generally positive”, with migrants “welcomed and accommodated in satisfactory conditions”, declared Renaissance MP Ludovic Mendes before the Law Commission. of the National Assembly, where he presented the conclusions of a flash mission carried out with the deputy Rassemblement national Julie Lechanteux.
However, “several malfunctions were observed”, he continued.
The main one concerns the “failing intervention” of the judge of freedoms and detention (JLD), “which is due to the unsuitability of the legal framework in the face of mass arrivals”, estimated Julie Lechanteux.
To decide whether to keep a person in a closed waiting area, the JLD has 24 hours to decide. However, on November 14, justice “received 174 referrals”, a “judicial tsunami”, continued the RN deputy, recalling that 108 people had been released for lack of being able to rule within the time limit.
The rapporteurs therefore recommend extending this period from 24 to 48 hours “in the event of a massive arrival” of people.
Even before this parliamentary mission proposed it, this measure was included in the government’s bill on immigration – whose examination scheduled for this week has been postponed -, carried by the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin who had promised to “draw conclusions” from this episode.
Among the other dysfunctions, Ludovic Mendes listed “the choice of an isolated place of accommodation”, “difficulties in accessing interpreters” or even an “insufficiently prepared event” by the authorities.
On this last point, the rapporteurs recommend the preparation of a “ready to use plan”, which would provide for a predefined landing port or even a “location of the waiting area”.
That of the Giens peninsula closed on November 24. At the end, the parliamentarians reported, 132 people applied for asylum, 54 left their accommodation without asking for asylum and four were “not admitted to the territory”.
All had been the subject of an interview with the internal security services, which “made it possible to identify two Syrians and a Pakistani likely to pose security problems”, underlined the deputy RN. These people have been “reported” and “file S”, she added.
03/29/2023 16:38:29 – Paris (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
