The Minister of the Interior does not rule out the question of quotas being posed for “other modes of legal immigration”, apart from the right of asylum.
The Minister of the Interior refutes the idea of establishing quotas on the right of asylum but does not exclude that the question is asked for “other modes of legal immigration”, in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche .
“As regards asylum, quotas are contrary to our international commitments – and to my personal ethics. Any application for asylum must be examined, which does not mean acceptance, “says Christophe Castaner in this interview.
“But the issue of quotas can be raised in the context of the debate for other modes of legal immigration,” he added, without specifying what type of immigration could be concerned (family, economic, student …) .,
Debate in September
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced in his general policy speech to the Assembly that the government would organize “an annual debate in Parliament” on asylum and immigration policy. The first will take place in September.
In January, the head of state Emmanuel Macron had for his part, in his Letter to the French, raised the idea of ”annual objectives” migratory which could be fixed by the Parliament, without however evoking the term of quotas.
In his interview to the JDD , Mr. Castaner recalls that a report on quotas drafted in 2009 by Pierre Mazeaud, former president of the Constitutional Council, had “led to dismiss this idea.”
The “Mazeaud commission on immigration quotas” in France, which had been initiated by the then Minister of the Interior, Brice Hortefeux, had indeed deemed these quotas “ineffective”, “unachievable or without interest”. It had also considered that this mechanism was synonymous with “unilateral and opportunistic fixation of entry quotas”.
“The quality of integration is a priority”
“Let’s also ensure that the debate on immigration does not focus only on the number of immigrants: let’s also talk about the quality of integration, it is a priority,” also insists Christophe Castaner in the JDD.
He does not consider it necessary, however, to introduce a new law on immigration. “We have to use all the tools we have. For example, our goal was to process refugee claims in up to six months. We are not there yet, “he says.
Christophe Castaner also recalls that “removals have increased by 14%” and that “we must do even better”. “At the same time, the number of accepted asylum applications has never been higher – I point it out to good souls who give us lessons,” he adds.
