Article below: "While France blames the migrants for the crime rate in
the country, former First Lady Danielle Mitterand’s taking 20 Kurdish
refugees she took from the refugee camps in Turkey to her country
clearly demonstrates the inconsistency that France displays in this
regard. That refugees worth when political benefits are a subject
matter while residents of a refugee camp are deported as they
allegedly pose a “security threat” sets a model to the insincere
policy. In this sense, there is a lot work left to be done by the
international institutions and non-governmental organizations. "
http://www.diplomaticobserver.com/news_read.asp?id=2218
FRENCH INCONSISTENCY ABOUT MIGRANTS
Reactions against the closure and destruction of the Calais migrant
camp with bulldozers where about 1000 immigrant lived by the French
Police in late September are still underway.
Immigration Minister Eric Besson’s statements suggesting that “the
camp was the base for the human traffickers and was closed in
accordance with the principles of the state of law” did not help him
to avert the criticisms from the opposition parties. While the
opposition, mainly the Socialist Party and the Green Party, describes
this incident as “inhumane,” Anti-Racism Association underlines that
xenophobia has been inflamed.
The sole supporter of this operation was the UK. The fact that the
migrants intended to travel to the UK used this camp as a halting
point was a matter of disturbance for this country. It is reported
that despite the warnings by the French Socialist Party and the Greens
Party as to “there was war still waged in Afghanistan and lives of
migrants were at stake,” the British exerted pressure for the return
of the camp residents, most of whom are Afghans, to their home
countries.
The European Court of Human Rights, too, reviewed the subject upon the
complaints raised by the human rights associations and non-
governmental organization that operate in France after the camp was
demolished, and warned France “to re-examine its policy on migrants
and suspend deportations.”
France had also closed Sangatte refuge camp in a similar way in 2002
as it was one of the priorities of the Minister of Interior of the
time Sarkozy. Obviously, efforts of France to solve the problem with
police methods proved to be unproductive. Because it is known that
refugees most of whom are Afghan, Iraqi, Sudanese and Iranian that
seek to pass to the UK continue to amass in different regions or at
stations on highways and that they have started to use different
transition points such as Saint Martin canal.
Hundreds and thousands of people who flee their country for reasons
such as bad economic conditions or war in hope of a better life flow
to the developed countries. France, the UK and Germany are the central
stations for this activity. It is known that Paris and London are
facing problems because of the migrants that want to migrate to the UK
through France. However, the solution to this problem should not be to
leave hundreds of people abandoned.
As a matter of fact, while underlining that it is the countries’ right
to fight with human smuggling and human trafficking, the UN High
Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) lays emphasis on the need to execute
such operations lawfully and to count humane considerations.
However, taking into account the statements by the leader of the
extreme right in France Jean-Marie Le Pen suggesting that “90 percent
of criminal acts were perpetrated by refugees, and it was essential to
control migration in order to ensure security,” it would be too
optimistic to expect France to act mercifully in this sense.
While France blames the migrants for the crime rate in the country,
former First Lady Danielle Mitterand’s taking 20 Kurdish refugees she
took from the refugee camps in Turkey to her country clearly
demonstrates the inconsistency that France displays in this regard.
That refugees worth when political benefits are a subject matter while
residents of a refugee camp are deported as they allegedly pose a
“security threat” sets a model to the insincere policy. In this sense,
there is a lot work left to be done by the international institutions
and non-governmental organizations.
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