Press Interpreter

06/17/06 -- After two weeks of debate, on Thursday night the Senate passed the bill on immigration on the first reading, fought every step of the way by the opposition Socialist and French Communist Parties.

A political lever of the “selective immigration� advocated by the interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy, the law notably repeals the rights of illegal immigrants who have been in the country for more than ten years. It also makes family reunion procedures more difficult, and carries a two to three year delay in the granting of 10 year residency visas to the spouses of French citizens.

The senators, encouraged by the national and regional development minister, adopted approximately one hundred amendments aimed at “humanising� some of the controversial provisions of the law. Following former minister Jacques Pelletier, leader of the radical Democratic European and Social Rally party, and leader of the Union for French Democracy Michael Mercier’s initiatives, the purview cregarding the issue of residence permits to obtain a long-stay visa has been softened. By dispensation, the foreign spouse of a French national who has married in France will not be obliged to return to his or her own country to obtain the visa, if his or her entry into France was legal and the spouse can prove six months of conjugal life in France.

“CO-DEVELOPMENT SAVINGS ACCOUNT�

With three Union for the Presidential Majority colleagues, Mr Pelletier also led a vote on an amendment allowing the parent of a sick foreign minor being treated in France to obtain a “humanitarian visa�, authorising a maximum six month stay. Other measures were also adopted to make it easier for foreigners who completed their studies in a French high school overseas to enter France.

The senators gave material support to Nicolas Sarkozy’s wish to produce an immigration policy “in a true spirit of co-development�. They adopted an additional proposed amendment of the Democratic European and Social Rally party, supported by several Union for the Presidential Majority and Union for French Democracy senators, which will allow workers from developing countries to put their savings into a frozen account. The money invested in this “co-development savings account� will be tax deductible to a limit of 25% and will be unfrozen “only if the investor proves an investment in a developing country�.

In addition, the granting of skilled workers visas, aimed at recruiting the elite, will be subject to a partnership agreement with the country of origin for the nationals of around fifty of the world’s poorest developing nations.

These small changes did not prevent the left from voting against each of the provisions. “In the face of this appalling law, we must, here and there, take a stand. From time to time, you want to spark a glimmer of humanity. We will not associate ourselves with this move,� said Bernard Frimat on behalf of the Socialist Party.

[Full article]

With AFP

Unknown Author

--Translated by Kirstin Smith

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