The government intends to make the life of foreigners subject to an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF) “impossible” in its future immigration bill, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced on Thursday. , on France Inter.
“We have work to do to make life impossible for OQTFs in France”, said the Minister, highlighting as an example the fact that “today someone who is the subject of an OQTF can still have a social housing”.
The expulsion measure is the subject of recurring controversy, in particular over its actual rate of application, which the government wants to increase with the help of the law. This controversy was rekindled after the savage murder of a 12-year-old girl, Lola, whose suspect is an Algerian national under the influence of an OQTF.
On this subject the Minister of the Interior deplored a “right too complex to expel a foreigner in an irregular situation, with up to twelve administrative and judicial remedies”.
“We are going to tighten the rules”
According to him, “more than half” of the 120,000 OQTFs taken are not enforceable because of administrative appeals. The upcoming bill plans to divide this possible number of appeals by three, from twelve to four, explained Gérald Darmanin, by providing on this subject “a very complicated major parliamentary debate”.
The project also plans to “lift the protections for a certain number of foreigners”, said the minister, citing the need to put an end to the system of double sentencing, which sees a convicted foreigner having to serve his sentence on the territory before his expulsion. The abolition of this measure would allow, according to Gérald Darmanin, “to deport 4,000 additional foreign offenders per year”.
Thursday evening, President Emmanuel Macron said he wanted to “in-depth reform the rules, our laws, to simplify the procedures” for expulsion, on the occasion of a new law on asylum and immigration which must be presented. “in the first half of next year”.
“We are going to toughen the rules” to “go to these 100%” of application of the obligations to leave French territory (OQTF), deportation procedures of which only less than 10% are carried out.