For the 2010 DVD edition of RESF: a resistance network, we have worked out a glossary of key words heard in the films, related to France’s immigration policy. The information contained in this lexicon gives some context and details about the events recounted in the films.
DEPORTATION
For a long time, the entry and stay of foreigners in France were not subject to control measures. The December 3, 1849 law is the first to organise the expulsion procedure. The May 2, 1938 decree-law regulates for the first time all aspects of the entry and stay of foreigners, and the November 2, 1945 ordinance, largely inspired by this decree-law, preserves its control and repression regime.
The January 10, 1980 law, known as the Bonnet law, modifies substantially the 1945 ordinance and turns irregular entry or stay into a motive for deportation.
The logic of figures…
Since 2005, the president of the republic has been setting quantified goals for deportation, growing from 20 000 in 2005 to 27 000 in 2009.
In late 2008, the minister of immigration proudly announced as his yearly results the deportation of 29 796 illegal immigrants, almost 4 000 more than the goal of 26 000 set by the president. But associations assisting migrants contest these figures as inflated: amongst other things, the deportations of numerous Romanians and Bulgarians who received financial aid to go back to their country but returned almost systematically to France after their deportation, Romania and Bulgaria being part of the European Union since 2007!
More figures… a 500 million euro policy
This deportation policy comes with a price tag. Cimade, working from a report written by the Senate’s finance commission, calculates a cost of 533 million euros for 2008, or about 27 000 euros for each deportation. These figures include the costs of operating detention centres, with guards and escorts, in addition to the costs of deportations themselves. A “costly” policy, sums up Cimade, specifying that some additional expenses, like those related to operating prefecture services or to legal arguments associated with detention, were not included in the figure.
> Sources
- Rapport annuel de Romeurope 2008 : http://www.romeurope.org
- Rapport de La Cimade sur les centres et locaux de rétention 2008
- Site web Gisti - Article de Danièle Lochak : « La politique de l'immigration au prisme de la législation sur les étrangers »
The January 10, 1980 law, known as the Bonnet law, modifies substantially the 1945 ordinance and turns irregular entry or stay into a motive for deportation.
The logic of figures…
Since 2005, the president of the republic has been setting quantified goals for deportation, growing from 20 000 in 2005 to 27 000 in 2009.
In late 2008, the minister of immigration proudly announced as his yearly results the deportation of 29 796 illegal immigrants, almost 4 000 more than the goal of 26 000 set by the president. But associations assisting migrants contest these figures as inflated: amongst other things, the deportations of numerous Romanians and Bulgarians who received financial aid to go back to their country but returned almost systematically to France after their deportation, Romania and Bulgaria being part of the European Union since 2007!
More figures… a 500 million euro policy
This deportation policy comes with a price tag. Cimade, working from a report written by the Senate’s finance commission, calculates a cost of 533 million euros for 2008, or about 27 000 euros for each deportation. These figures include the costs of operating detention centres, with guards and escorts, in addition to the costs of deportations themselves. A “costly” policy, sums up Cimade, specifying that some additional expenses, like those related to operating prefecture services or to legal arguments associated with detention, were not included in the figure.
> Sources
- Rapport annuel de Romeurope 2008 : http://www.romeurope.org
- Rapport de La Cimade sur les centres et locaux de rétention 2008
- Site web Gisti - Article de Danièle Lochak : « La politique de l'immigration au prisme de la législation sur les étrangers »