Trouble in Truffle Land Can truffle gatherers in Périgord continue their traditional way of life? Patrick Bruel Goes Retro... A fun musical flashback to the 1930s A Dog's Life... In a search for cleaner sidewalks an expat looks at pampered Parisian pooches Disappearing Concierges... Is the typical Parisian concierge becoming an endganered species? Paris Street Music... The sounds of the Paris street are the sounds of the world France's Legion of Honor... A look at France's Legion of Honor from a personal perspective In a Green Haze of Absinthe Absinthe inspired a generation of artists before it was banned in 1915. Will it make a comeback? A Search for the Ideal Cafe A ramble through Paris via the corner cafes SPECIAL REPORT ARCHIVE   what's happening and what we think about it   cool stuff to do music, art, food, etc.   Want to know more about Paris Tempo? Read this message from the Paris Tempo Team		Will Prostitution be criminalized? Understanding the debate... What the girls on the street think... How the traffickers moved in... What are the police doing... How customers see it... Were French soldiers serving in Bosnia and Kosovo made ill by radioactive ammunition? Is there a "Balkan Syndrome"... What are "depleted uranium" munitions... Understanding the health risks... Plus: The Danone Boycott... Mad Cow Scare and French reaction.. Political asylum and refugees' status... 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... French Policy on Political Asylum France's ratification of the Amsterdam Treaty on 17 Jan 1999 empowers the European Union to set union-wide immigration and asylum policies. The EU is currently in the process of developing a single Europe-wide policy on immigration, refugees and political asylum. Meanwhile, France continues to apply the procedure laid out in a 1998 law which revised some of the more restrictive elements of the previous immigration and asylum policy. According to reports by international human rights organizations, several aspects of that earlier French asylum policy had contravened international standards. Now you can listen to ParisTempo's new musical selections online right here... Human Rights Watch says that France, like most other West European countries, had strict visa requirements that made it virtually impossible for an asylum seeker to enter the territory lawfully. Many of those who did get into the country were then blocked from registering their asylum applications with the authorities. Human Rights Watch cites several credible reports that French officials responsible for registering claims at French borders and in regional préfectures (administrative offices) unlawfully obstructed access to the procedure, in some cases placing asylum seekers at risk of immediate return to their country of origin with no consideration of the merits of their asylum claims. France also held a very restrictive interpretation of its obligations under the Geneva Convention, and was criticized by the UN Human Rights Committee for defining the concept of "persecution" in such a way that did not take into account persecution by non-state actors. According to Human Rights Watch, the new asylum law has failed to address some key issues, including the obstacles that asylum seekers faced in merely obtaining access to the asylum procedure in France. Amnesty International also criticized the law, arguing that "the few improvements brought about by the new law would be of profit only to a few people whereas its restrictions would affect a larger number of asylum seekers." discuss this story How many refugees demand political asylum every year? In recent years the number of people demanding political refugee status in Europe has been on the decline. The record was reached in 1992, with nearly 700,000 requests for political refugee status, according to Euro News. By 1996, only about one-third as many refugees were seeking asylum in the EU -- and only twenty to thirty percent would get the status. The reasons for seeking asylum haven't changed. People fleeing war and human rights violations still search desperately for a place to rebuild their lives. In the mid-1990s the largest numbers of asylum demands in Europe came from refugees from the civil war in Yugoslavia, Kurds fleeing Turkey, and Iraqis and Algerians fleeing their countries. Germany is the destination of choice for nearly fifty percent of the demands for European political exile. Understanding the Issue: The Girl Facing the Judge Debating the Definition of a Political Refugee Political Asylum: Understanding the Law in France
		all contents copyright 2003, Paris Tempo. contact us at paristempo@aol.com.