A record number of people sought asylum in France in 2017
Last year, the number of applications for political asylum in France increased by 17% compared to 2016. As reported by RFI, these figures were published on Monday, January 8, by the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (Ofpra).
Over the past year, more than 100,000 applications were submitted to Ofpra, said Pascal Brice, director of the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons. According to him, such a flow of refugees has not been seen "for at least the last 40 years." Nevertheless, the director assured that France "is capable of handling this situation," as it is not yet a "mass influx." For comparison, in the same 2017, Germany received about 200,000 applications for refugee status.
In 2016, the increase in the number of asylum seekers in France was already 6.5%. Ofpra's figures show that roughly the same proportion of applications receive a positive response: in 2016, 38% of applicants received it, and in 2017, 36%. Together with asylum permits issued by appellate courts, 43,000 people received refugee status in France last year.
The top nationality among applicants in France was Albanian, which the French administration considers a "safe country." Therefore, only 6.5% of Albanians received a positive asylum decision. Next in number of applications were nationals of Afghanistan and Haiti.
Despite the high rate (95%) of positive asylum decisions for Syrian citizens, fewer Syrians wish to remain in France. According to Ofpra statistics, only 3,249 nationals from that country applied last year. That is 10% less than in 2016.
Pascal Brice, director of the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons, promised that in 2018, the processing time for each application would be reduced to two months. Currently, it takes three to four months.
In addition to the increase in applications, the number of "voluntary departures" from the country also rose. According to the French Office for Immigration and Integration (Ofii), in 2017, 7,100 people voluntarily left France, receiving financial assistance to purchase a ticket. This is 49% more than in 2016. "This increase reflects the state's policy of intensifying the return of illegal immigrants to their home countries," commented Didier Leschi, director of Ofii.
The largest numbers returned this way were Albanians (1,553 people), Afghans (about a thousand), and Moldovans (419 people). The policy of "voluntary returns" costs France much less than forced escort to the border. Until the end of April 2018, the authorities increased the amount of assistance for illegal immigrants from 1,000 euros per person to 2,000.