EUROCEF associates itself with the OXFAM France press release entitled ‘Pour une politique migratoire d’accueil et de solidarité’ which we are distributing and sharing on our website.
EUROCEF is an international non-governmental organisation (INGO) active within the Council of Europe, in particular within the Conference of INGOs. At European level, we are involved in the work of the Civil Society Committee on Migration Issues, which aims to change migration practices and policies in Europe.
« We, associations, groups of exiles, host communities and trade unions, would like to express our deep concern about the Barnier government’s intentions with regard to immigration. After the soap opera of the law on asylum and immigration, we will oppose any further deterioration in the rights of people living in exile in France and will continue to defend a migration policy of welcome and solidarity.
No sooner had the government been appointed than it made immigration its hobbyhorse, making a series of outrageous and dangerous announcements. The Minister of the Interior has already announced that he will be calling a meeting of the prefects ‘of the ten departments where there is the greatest migratory disorder to ask them to deport more and regularise less’. We denounce this misrepresentation of migration: no, there is no migratory disorder, no migratory crisis. What we are witnessing is a crisis of welcome and solidarity, and the endangerment of exiles by policies of restriction and exclusion championed by successive governments. Collectively, we are demanding that undocumented migrants be regularised, that unaccompanied minors be protected, and that human rights and dignity be respected.
The Minister of the Interior has announced his intention to call into question the State Medical Aid (AME). The health of exiles is once again being exploited to fuel migration policy considerations. We would like to point out that the AME is a health scheme that is essential for people’s access to healthcare, and that it responds to public health issues. As such, this public policy is decided by the Ministry of Health. We are concerned to see our governments adopting the rhetoric of the extreme right, based on a ‘race to the bottom’ and uncontrolled spending, which has been widely condemned by a number of recent studies and reports. Finally, we would point out that around a quarter of AME beneficiaries are minors, and that it is intolerable to want to deprive children of access to healthcare
The programme is clear: restrictions on rights, criminalisation of migration and people showing solidarity, repression of exiles and detention at every turn. In his general policy statement to the National Assembly on Tuesday1October, the Prime Minister announced that he wanted to ‘fight racism’ and treat immigration with dignity, but he immediately contradicted himself by planning to increase the maximum legal period of detention, to prevent exiles from crossing borders, and by casting suspicion on them. However, at no point does Michel Barnier question the worrying statements made by the Minister of the Interior. We denounce the government’s approach, and reiterate our commitment to a state governed by the rule of law that respects people and treats them humanely, not as undesirables.
Nous, associations, collectifs de personnes exilées, collectivités accueillantes, et syndicats, appelons à mettre fin à cette obsession migratoire xénophobe et dangereuse, et à respecter les droits de chaque personne, indépendamment de sa nationalité, de son origine, de sa religion, de son orientation sexuelle et de genre. Nous appelons chacun·e à la vigilance et à la solidarité, à continuer à soutenir et à participer aux actions, comme les luttes des travailleur·se·s Sans Papiers pour leur régularisation. Nous resterons mobilisé·e·s contre tout nouveau coup porté au respect des droits et à la dignité des personnes étrangères. »
Signataires
- Organisations nationale
Les Amoureux au ban public / Anafé / ANVITA / CCFD-Terre Solidaire / CGT / La Cimade / CNAJEP / CRID / Dom’Asile / Emmaüs / Femmes Egalité / FSU / Gisti / Grdr – Migrations-Citoyenneté-Développement / Humanity Diaspo / J’Accueille / Ligue des Droits de l’Homme / Limbo / Médecins du Monde / MRAP / On Est Prêt / Oxfam / Patrons Solidaires / PLACE Network / Planning Familial / Polaris 14 / Réseau Féministe « Ruptures » / Ripostes, pour une coordination antifasciste/ SAF (Solidarités Asie France) / Singa / Thot / UEE / Union syndicale Solidaires / UniR Universités & Réfugié.e.s / Utopia 56 / Visa – Vigilance et initiatives syndicales antifascistes / Watizat / Weavers
- Local organisations
Association Bretillienne des Familles / Accueil Réfugiés Bruz / L’Auberge des migrants / Bienvenue Fougères / Droit à l’Ecole / Fédération Etorkinekin Diakité / Forum Social des Quartiers – Rennes le Blosne / Groupe accueil et solidarité (GAS) / L’Hirondelle de Martigné-Ferchaud / Intercollectif : Coordination Sans-Papiers 75, CTSP Vitry, CSPM, CSP 17e, CSP 93, Gilets Noirs / L’IOSPE – InterOrga de soutien aux personnes exilées de Rennes / Ligue des Droits de l’Homme – Pays de Rennes / Migrants en Bretagne Romantique – QMS / Pantin Solidaire / Paris d’Exil / Plouër Réfugié-e-s / Réseau Territoires Accueillants 35 / Soutien Migrants Redon / Tous Migrant / Un Toit c’est Un Droit Rennes / VIAMI Val d’lle-Aubigné Accueil Migrants »