WORLD WORLDWIDE FRANCE News Journal Update - (en) France, Organisation Communiste Libertarie (OCL) - CA #329: Without Borders - News from the Immigration Law (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 breaking news! As the writing of this section ends, the government has just

announced that it is postponing this reform "sine die" to calm the parliamentary
game and try to defuse the political crisis around the pension reform. The
Darmanin law is put in the drawer but, let's trust them that it will come out
when calm has returned and the presidential majority is "consolidated". Here is a
presentation of the bill as it stands, just to have the ins and outs of Macron's
vision of immigration. ---- As we recalled in our previous sections, the spirit
of this law insists on two visions of the arrival of foreigners in France. On the
one hand, the repression with the "bad" migrants which translates into an
unprecedented tightening of the conditions for applying for and obtaining a
residence permit or asylum with the reduction of processing times and the
dematerialization of files; the reduction of appeals, in particular to the CNDA;
if OQTF, an increase in their application and registration in the police file of
the persons concerned; finally, the use of house arrest pending the construction
of new CRAs. On the other side, a purely utilitarian vision of immigration as an
adjustment variable to capitalist interests. "Nice" migrants will be able to
obtain a special residence permit for "shortage jobs" such as construction,
personal assistance, catering, etc. But this authorization is renewable every
year and therefore can be canceled if the boss decides otherwise.

In March, the bill - which had already been debated in the National Assembly -
was to go to committee in the Senate and then to a plenary session. This lair of
the right Les Républicains had prepared its amendments to scrap against the
government by accusing in particular the project, more precisely article 3, of
being too lax on the visas "jobs in tension". Darmanin had already sought a
compromise by proposing a review clause. One thing is certain, when the
LR/Renaissance majority is consolidated, a new blow will fall on the rights of
foreigners because, remember that the bill was largely inspired by the work of
Senator François-Noël Buffet, an LR....

Source: La Croix, leaflets against the Darmanin law

And the fight against this law?

It had begun but was being built a little in the shadow of the strong social
mobilization against the pension reform. The March of Solidarity (see their blog)
animated and coordinated the struggle. Rallies were organized on January 27,
February 1 and March 18. In addition to the rejection of the Darmanin law, it is
also an opportunity to denounce the multiplication of targeted controls in public
transport, particularly in the Paris region in RER or metro stations. The
administrative detention facilities (LRA) are also strongly criticized. Created
by the prefect, these are fairly opaque places, in the heart of cities, where at
most ten undocumented migrants can be detained. This can be hotels,
administrative cities, police stations. An estimate, by peeling the prefectural
decrees, currently has 131 places but the government's objective in 2023 is to
reach 300. The confinement can last 2 days during which the administration seeks
to obtain a rapid expulsion. If the time is exceeded, the person is sent to a
CRA. These LRA seek to dilute and generalize the deportation machine. Fire at the
CRA and the LRA, that's good, some are police stations!

Source: March of Solidarity, blog down with the CRAs which lists the LRA on the
territory

Small victories in the homes of migrant workers

We often talk about the dilapidation of these often aging residences and the
increasingly strong social control of social landlords who want to isolate people
and challenge the residents' committees and the community life that exists in
these places. Faced with this, struggles regularly appear and some positive
outcomes emerge as in the two examples below.

In the ADOMA home (ex-Sonacotra) on Boulevard de la Commanderie in Paris, the
inhabitants blocked access to their residence to the staff of the social
landlord. After a morning of blockage accompanied by threats from the director to
send the cops, a discussion was made possible between the managers and the
residents' delegates. Two points of tension were raised: the multiplication of
bailiff checks with subpoenas before the courts against the sharing of certain
rooms with family or community members; insecurity with the entry of people from
outside the residence. The discussion ended with an agreement in principle from
the manager who undertakes to warn people before bringing in the bailiff and to
reinforce security with security guards and additional cameras. A follow-up will
be done by the residents' committee. The blockage was lifted and made it possible
to obtain things.

In Boulogne Billancourt, 118 residents are threatened with eviction by ADOMA. It
is revenge for the 2016 rent strike that lasted 18 months and during which
migrant workers refused to pay high rent for a rotten residence. It is one of the
oldest hostels in the Paris region, built to accommodate the workers of the
Renault factory. The price to pay? more than 220 euros per person for a bed in a
triple room of 16m2 and 350 euros for a single room of 8m2. Since 2016,
renovations have been undertaken but the common areas have been closed and remain
so today. Also, ADOMA does not budge and wants to recover the money for a total
of 1.3 million euros. Justice left to give reason to the lessor, the residents
organized a demonstration and were received by the town hall which wants to play
the appeasement and the negotiation. Case to follow but the balance of power was
in the street!

Source: COPAF, collective for the future of homes, bondyblog

Umpteenth Franco-British agreement on immigration

It's a bit always the same thing, it meets, it shakes the paw all smiles in front
of the cameras and it discusses border control in exchange for hard cash. Since
the Le Touquet agreements under Sarkozy (2003), the English border has been the
French coast, which has given rise to an uninterrupted series of summits and
meetings to control this coastal strip and the bunker. Millions of euros have
been spent to fence complete the port of Calais and the Channel Tunnel where
there is no longer any passage. Migrants now cross by sea and attempted crossings
have multiplied by 20 since 2019. 2022: 45,000 crossings, 2021: 28,526 and since
the beginning of 2023, according to the figures officials, 3,150 people who
attempted the crossing.

It is in this context that on March 10, English Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and
Macron met officially at the Élysée. It was a bit like the reconquest operation
between the two states after the confusion that arose during Brexit. This time
the objective is clear: no more Channel crossings. To give itself the means, the
English check book is out with 541 million euros on the table for 3 years! This
windfall will be used to: build a new detention center in the north of France,
recruit 500 additional British border cops, create a unified Franco-British
command center to coordinate boat recovery actions. This last point is to be
linked to the recent scandal around the last "big" shipwreck in the Channel in
2021 which killed 27 migrants. English and French relief had passed the buck for
hours because of the sharing of territorial waters, which gave people time to die.

On the British side, the Conservatives are continuing their resounding
announcements against immigration. This time around, a new bill has been
introduced in Parliament - via new Home Secretary Suella Braverman - to withdraw
the right to asylum for people who cross the Channel illegally except for minors
and seriously ill people, what kindness! All others would be immediately detained
and deported within weeks. Faced with unsure countries that would prevent
deportation, there would always be Rwanda or Albania as the land of deportation
(see our previous sections). The agreements between the respective governments
are signed and provide for the reception of those expelled from the United
Kingdom. But for the moment, the decision is blocked by legal appeals to the
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) while the London justice had given the
green light. The legislative elections are barely a year away and the
Conservatives are trying everything to block the way to the Labor Party who are
promised to govern the country. But let us have no illusions because the ideas
once presented and advanced will remain in the drawers and can be brought out, no
doubt a little watered down but still just as racist and xenophobic.

Source: Obs, the chained duck, infomigrants

After St Brevin, Beyssenac, new target of anti-CADA fachos

Beyssenac, town of 350 inhabitants in Corrèze. A reception center for asylum
seekers with around forty places is due to open in April, but the announcement
was taken up and exploited by the far right. A group of opponents formed and
organized a demonstration on February 25. The counter-demonstration was a success
since 1000 people who support the CADA project surrounded barely 400 opponents.
There was the whole panel of the French far right: the RN of course (Gilbert
Collard was expected), zemmouriens, monarchists of Action Française,
identitarians. On the strength of this success, the fight seems acquired and the
mayor is very favorable to the project. But at the end of March, in Saint Brévin
near Saint Nazaire, where there was the same opposition against a CADA project
(see previous section), the mayor's car and house were burned down. He regularly
received threats from the far right. Let's stay vigilant, make and win social
movements to clear these baltringues.

Source: France 3 Correze

Ratonnades in the streets of Tunis

In an attempt to hide the deep economic and political crisis in Tunisia, dictator
President Kais Saïed wants to divert attention by designating sub-Saharan
migrants as scapegoats. On February 21, he declared that the country was
threatened by "hordes of migrants" then to fall into the theses of the great
replacement by seeing "a criminal enterprise hatched at the dawn of this century
to change the demographic composition of the Tunisia" in order to transform it
into an "African only" country and blur its "Arab-Muslim" character. These
declarations provoked a veritable hunt for blacks in the big cities of the
country. Within days, 21,000 sub-Saharan immigrants lost their jobs and homes. In
the street, there were ratonnades and people were arrested - around 800 between
February and March - by the police and sentenced to 2 or 3 months in prison for
"illegal stay". This policy of persecutions caused diplomatic turmoil as they
say. Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Burkina, Senegal and Libya have voluntarily
repatriated their nationals. For others, it is the fear of going out into the
street. Faced with this, demonstrations took place in Tunisia but also in front
of the Tunisian embassies of many African countries. In Senegal, the
mobilizations are the strongest. A dozen associations and collectives have come
together to fight against persecution and demand a public apology from the
Tunisian president. Tensions arose during a demonstration banned by the
Senegalese government at the call of the Front for a popular and pan-African
anti-imperialist revolution (Frapp). The latter also wishes to launch a campaign
to boycott Tunisian products. At the same time, departures from Tunisia to Europe
are increasing with sub-Saharans but also Tunisians. Since the beginning of the
year, 14,549 Tunisians have landed on Italian soil. People are fleeing the
economic crisis (huge inflation, unemployment due to the tourism crisis,
austerity plan imposed by the IMF) and the repression of political opponents. In
all this slump, we observe a resurgence of the slogans of 2011 during the
Tunisian revolution among young people, the unemployed, daily workers. Maybe a hope!

Source: RFI

Also in Algeria

Migrants of sub-Saharan origin are also expelled to neighboring Algeria. Almost
3,000 people were expelled at the end of February in the middle of the Sahara
desert, without water or food, a few kilometers from the Niger border. Often
arrested in northern cities, migrants are taken to the Tamanrasset deportation
center, 1,900 kilometers south of Algiers. Testimonies speak of a counting of
their cases by the police
Crossing the border, migrants often reach a transit center managed by the IOM in
the village of Assamaka, which is more than 30 km on foot under the cane. But you
still have to find your way around, many deportees wander for days in the desert
and in 2020 and 2021, 38 bodies were found in the area, a few kilometers from
Assamaka. According to figures from Doctors Without Borders, between January 11
and March 3, 2023, nearly 5,000 migrants experienced this kind of expulsion.

Source: infomigrants

http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article3725
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca