In addition, the final immigration figures confirm a timid recovery in migratory flows last year, after a year 2020 of record drop in movements due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Nearly 100,000 residence permits were issued in 2021 by France to the British due to Brexit, we learned on Monday June 20 on the occasion of the publication of annual immigration statistics.
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Precisely 99,644 British nationals obtained a residence permit last year, when they must hold one to legally stay in France since October 1, 2021, against the background of Brexit. This is data stillprovisional“, emphasizes the Ministry of the Interior on the occasion of this publication of immigration statistics for the rest definitive, because”given the delays between the filing of an application and the issuance of the permit, certain permits issued during the year are not yet registered in the national management database for residence permits“.
Afghans, main asylum seekers
By way of comparison, the administration has indicated the final number of residence permits granted to Britons in 2020: 7,686, or thirteen times less. “The need for the British and their dependents to have a specific residence permit on October 1, 2021 has generated an unprecedented influx of requests“, had underlined in January the French Ministry of the Interior, justifying the explosion of issuance of titles called “Brexit, withdrawal agreement“.
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In addition, the final immigration figures confirm a timid recovery in migratory flows last year, after a year 2020 of record drop in movements due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Thus, 104,381 first asylum applications were registered in France, up 28%, a level which remains well below the pre-health crisis.
This increase in applications submitted to the dedicated one-stop shops (Guda) is partly explained by the operations to evacuate thousands of Afghan nationals from Kabul, after the Taliban took power in mid-August 2021. Afghanistan is thus consolidating its place as the main country of origin of asylum seekers in France, with 16,116 applications filed (+61%), far ahead of Côte d’Ivoire (6,260), Bangladesh (6,231) and Guinea (5,269).
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In the first half of 2022, the number of attempts to illegally cross the Channel increased sharply, the Interior Ministry also told AFP on Monday, reporting a 68% increase (777 attempts for 20,132 people). compared to the same period last year, between January 1 and June 13.
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