The real victims

The Council of the Christian Churches in France – consisting of the Catholic Church, the Protestant Federation of France and the Assembly of Orthodox bishops – has expressed its concerns about the amendments contained in the new immigration bill, which was approved by the Council of Ministers on 29 March and will be debated in Parliament in the early days of May. The government intends to reform the “code of entry and residence of foreigners and asylum seekers” (so-called CESEDA) to “crack down on unplanned immigration – explains the bill – and promote selective immigration and successful immigration”. The Churches however have expressed their “concerns” in a letter sent to Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin on 25 April. Signed by Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, Pastor Jean-Arnold de Clermont and Orthodox Metropolitan Emmanuel, the letter is but the latest in a long series of actions undertaken by the Churches in recent times to “defend the interests of the most vulnerable, including many children”. Meanwhile French humanitarian associations have launched an awareness-raising campaign with an appeal to the nation. THE FATE OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE ENDANGERED . In their letter to De Villepin, the Christian Churches of France conceded the government’s “full legitimacy” to propose amendments to the immigration bill, but consider that the new legislation may have “grave consequences for the fate of men and women who are already living in a precarious condition”. These concerns had already been expressed by the Catholic Church at a meeting with Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy on 10 April. On 13 April there was also a technical meeting between the Minister’s aides and an ecumenical workgroup during which a series of measures for the protection of immigrants had been proposed (such as the maintenance of residence permits in the case of breach of labour contract and measures of protection for women victims of conjugal violence). What most worries the Churches is the fact that “the bill contains measures that would have the effect of further restricting the chances for the regularization of foreigners”; it would leave “a large number of people in a state of administrative and social precariousness”. UNREALISTIC PROPOSALS . In their letter to the Prime Minister the Churches review the various measures contained in the bill. Sharing the government’s concern to “avoid illegality”, they are of the view that the bill risks, for example “delaying the reunification of families and leaving whole families in a long period of uncertainty”. As regards irregular immigrants, the Churches point out that the reality of the “sans papiers” is “uncontainable, and is now estimated to run into hundreds of thousands of people. Can one simply propose to them to return to their country of origin? That seems to us an unrealistic proposition from a practical point of view and problematic at the human level”. The bill, moreover, proposes an extension of the list of so-called “safe countries of origin” and this inevitably involves a further restriction of the level of protection for “asylum seekers” with a corresponding “reduction of the measures of social aid and welfare” prescribed in such cases. Nor are the Churches convinced by the proposed “creation of a charter of skills and talents”: it would, they claim, risk “creating sharp inequalities between categories of people”. THE ACTIONS OF THE CHURCHES . On the same day that the Churches sent their letter to the French premier, Jean-Pierre Arnold, President of the Protestant Federation, and Patrick Peugeot, President of CIMADE (ecumenical service of aid and counselling to foreigners in France) met with the Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy to ask that the bill be subjected to a “national reflection that would take into account the importance of the migratory phenomenon”. Again on the same day, Prime Minister De Villepin had a meeting with Archbishop André Vingt-Trois of Paris. The meeting – said the archbishop – “had been long planned”, and during it “little” had been said of the new immigration bill, since, he said, “the bishops have already adopted their position on the matter and clearly expressed it”. APPEAL TO CONSCIENCES . “This reform is deliberately contained in a utilitarian perspective. Only those foreigners perceived as necessary for the economy will be accepted in France”, says an “Appeal” to “reawaken consciences” promoted by a group of French humanitarian associations (Catholic Committee against famine and for development, CIMADE, French Caritas and the Catholic national service for the pastoral care of migrants) and signed by a long list of Christian associations and movements. “It is our duty as Christians to recall that man must always be at the centre of our concerns and that the law must protect the weakest. The first to ‘suffer’ migration are precisely those who are urged along the paths of exile by poverty”.