France to Amnesty Only Some Illegal Immigrants with Children
The French government announced that it intends to reconsider plans to deport illegal immigrants whose children attend French schools. As reported by AFP, previously hundreds of illegal immigrant families in France were given a deadline until the end of the school year (which ends on June 30), after which police were ordered to arrest them and escort them to the country’s border.
However, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said that residence permits in the country will be granted to families whose children were born in France or were brought there “at a very young age” and do not speak the language of their country of origin. Thus, the authorities will reconsider their decision regarding approximately 750 families (2,500 people).
According to various human rights organizations, the new decision by the authorities is a purely symbolic gesture, since currently about 100,000 children of illegal immigrants study in French schools. Many of them, as their teachers believe, are already “well integrated” into French society. However, Sarkozy ruled out a broader amnesty for illegal immigrants with children, noting that this could create a new channel of illegal immigration to France. After all, to register a child in a French school, one does not need to present identity documents or documents granting the right to reside in the country.
Britain to Pay Illegal Immigrants for Voluntary Departure from the Country
The UK government has approved a new migration program under which illegal immigrants who entered the country before January 1, 2006, will receive compensation of $4,800 for voluntarily leaving the country.
As The Telegraph newspaper writes, each migrant will receive $3,200 in cash and another $1,600 in the form of certain services. Those who agreed to participate in this program and were registered as participants since January 1 will have to leave the UK by the end of this year.
In the first four months, 2,000 people agreed to these terms. It is planned that the next stage of the program will last another six months.
British officials believe that such measures will save significant budget funds, since forced deportation costs the treasury $17,600 per person. “Voluntary return to one’s homeland is always preferable to forced expulsion,” said a representative of the UK Interior Ministry.