The sharp edge of the protest is directed against the article of the law that allows the expulsion from the country of "sans-papiers" ("without papers") – foreigners who entered France illegally and do not have documents for temporary residence. The demonstrators were particularly concerned about the fate of families with children who have long been attending French schools, often since preschool. According to various estimates, between 50,000 and 100,000 such children currently live in France.
The head of the Interior Ministry and presidential candidate for the 2007 elections has set a goal to expel 25,000 illegal immigrants this year. The new law makes it harder to obtain residence permits in France and naturalization, introduces quotas for immigrants "needed" by the country's economy, and abolishes automatic legalization after 10 years of actual residence. With the tightening of immigration rules, presidential candidate Sarkozy hopes to gain votes from the nationalistically minded part of French society.
On the wave of the struggle for the right of illegal immigrants to live and work in France, influential civil society organizations have emerged – the network "Education Without Borders" (RESF) and the "Union Against Throwaway Immigration." They are the ones who called supporters of the law's repeal to the streets.
Among the demonstrators in Paris were well-known figures from the left and far-left parts of the French political spectrum, including such eminent ones as former Prime Minister Laurent Fabius and former Economy Minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn. "We take them under our protection!", "No papers – not human!", "Trampling of human rights is a threat to the Republic!" – read the banners above the column, which marched peacefully, without incident, along the eastern part of central Paris from Place de la Bastille to Bercy.
The founder and leader of RESF, Richard Moyon, said during the demonstration that his supporters will vigilantly monitor the actions of the authorities. The "network" has "red" phone numbers on which specific cases of deportation can be reported at any time: "If the Interior Ministry intends to deport someone from the country, it will not be able to do so secretly."
At the rally in front of the Bercy sports palace, journalist Florence Aubenas spoke. She is known above all for having been a hostage for 157 days last year to Islamists in Iraq; French special services took part in her release, and President Chirac himself met her at a military airfield near Paris. "When the police come for your neighbors to send them where they do not want to go, the moment of disobedience has come," proclaimed Ms. Aubenas.
Already that same evening, another, even more massive and unauthorized procession spilled onto the Champs-Élysées to the sounds of car horns and bursts of firecrackers: in connection with the victory of the French national team over Brazil at the World Cup. And in this rejoicing crowd, one could notice many faces of "non-indigenous origin."
Alexander MINEEV.
Novye Izvestia