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A
Dog's Life...
In a search for cleaner sidewalks an expat looks at pampered
Parisian pooches
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Dossier:
Political Refugees in France
Who is entitled to political refugee status
in France? And what are the implications? One
refugee's encounter with justice ...
French policy on political asylum...
Who is a refugee... Understanding the
law... |
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The
Girl Facing the Judge
by Isabelle Nikolic
The young woman was in front of the judge's
bench. I was her interpreter, hired by the prosecutor who would
decide her future on french soil, why not just say her fate.
Arriving from Sierra Leone a week ago,
without passport, and with only a Red Cross card to prove her identity,
she was gently taken into custody by the police at the airport then
installed in one of those airport transit hotels known as the last
outpost before expulsion from french territory.
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| Her face was closed
and empty of all expression. She kept her arms crossed under her T-shirt,
and because of all I'd seen on TV about her country, I couldn't stop
myself from thinking that she would uncover two stumps when the moment
came. |
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Want to read the original version
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Try the french
text of this article
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The prosecutor asked the questions
and I had to translate, but the young woman responded in a very
quiet voice and it was difficult to get any information from her.
She was barely 18, she didn't
know who had put her on the plane, nor who had paid for her ticket.
All that she wanted was to never again have to set foot in her country
where her whole family had been killed.
The court appointed defense
lawyer quickly made a statement about the terrible situation in
Sierra Leone and asked the judge to give
this young person a chance.
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| Everyone was visibly uncomfortable. The
judge again asked the young woman if she was pregnant, and then immediately
made the decision to prolong her authorization to remain in french
territory for 48 hours. Expulsion was out of the question, but it
was clear to everyone that the young woman had no means of support
and that she would soon find herself in the street, without assistance
and without papers.
The young woman slowly retreated from the
judge's bench escorted by two policemen. Was she simply glad that
she could stay in France, did she realize what lay ahead for her
and did she think about it? No expression showed through her youthful
face, already so worn.
What will happen to this young woman?
France rarely grants the status of political refugee, but by avoiding
this decision, don't we augment the number of illegal refugees?
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The
Media and
the "Sans Papiers"
In France, public attention was drawn
to the plight of foreigners without documents, known as "sans
papiers," through demonstrations and media coverage of
operations to escort the immigrants to the border.
Awareness of the issue was at its height
in the summer of 1997, when police forcibly removed a group
of "sans papiers" on hunger strike near the Eglise
Saint Bernard in the 18eme. The public outcry following this
highly publicized operation put the spotlight on French political
asylum policy.
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