In a decision issued on Thursday, January 25, the French Constitutional Council, the country’s highest constitutional authority, rejected more than a third of the controversial new “Immigration and Asylum Law” including measures aimed at toughening the access to social benefits and family reunification, set by the French Parliament.
For weeks, NGOs alongside trade unions and civil society organisations have been protesting all around the country to claim the complete rejection of the bill describing it as the most regressive immigration bill in the history of France.
Although not all the problematic measures have been censured, CCEM expresses its relief at the rejection of certain measures that would have made migrants even more precarious, exposing them further to the risks of human trafficking, in particular the initial planned offence of irregular residence. It should be noted though that other provisions have been maintained, which still exacerbate the precariousness and vulnerability of migrants and give rise to serious concerns and worries, which will also negatively impact the rights of victims of trafficking.
La Cimade, one of the main NGOs working on migration in France has named the law a “profound attack on the fundamental rights of people’, due to its measures that stigmatize, repress, exclude and endanger vulnerable migrants.