French deputies advised to deport migrants less often, as temporary detention centers are overflowing
Deporting one person with irregular status costs the state about 14,000 euros, deputies calculated. At the same time, as RFI notes, the average cost of assistance for returning to the country of origin is 2,500-4,000 euros, and overall such a measure cost the state budget 26 million euros in 2018. However, the report notes that in 2018 the number of deportations increased compared to 2011, while the number of assisted voluntary returns decreased.
In 2018, the number of irregular migrants who left French territory in one way or another exceeded 30,000. The most frequently deported were citizens of Albania (2,112 people), Romania (1,909) and Algeria (1,525). Also, 24,530 people were awaiting expulsion in special administrative detention centers, but only 40% of them actually left the territory.
The report emphasizes that 96% of migrants who received return assistance go to their countries of origin. This assistance consists of a one-time allowance of 300 to 650 euros. A quarter of them receive from 2,000 to 7,500 euros for reintegration in their home country in the form of a development project. This assistance is disbursed as the project progresses.
The report recommends resorting less often to deportations, which, according to the data presented, cost the state more than providing return assistance.
In temporary migrant detention centers (CRA) in France in 2018, more than 45,000 people were held, according to a joint report by six French NGOs published on June 4. France remains the first among European countries in the number of decisions to place irregular migrants in such centers, where conditions are worsening every year.
Migrants facing expulsion from the country end up in temporary detention centers. If in 2017 there were 46,800 irregular migrants in them, in 2018 there were 45,851. However, human rights activists point out that placing migrants in CRA centers is becoming routine, and emphasize a "serious deterioration in the observance of rights" of people in these centers.
As AFP notes, in France about 40% of migrants who end up in such centers are released by court decision due to authorities' failure to respect their rights. "Prefectures almost systematically resort to detaining migrants, but at the same time do not study their cases seriously enough," says the report of six human rights organizations that have access to temporary detention centers (Cimade, l’Ordre de Malte, France Terre d’Asile, Assfam-Groupe SOS, Forum Réfugiés-Cosi and Solidarité Mayotte).
As stated at a press conference by David Roi, a representative of the refugee rights organization Cimade, the situation with placing migrants in temporary detention centers "has significantly worsened since Emmanuel Macron came to power." His words are quoted by AFP. Last year, NGO representatives compared French temporary detention centers for migrants to prisons. "The close proximity between people in difficult life situations, some of whom have psychological disorders, leads to increased tension," the report says.
According to David Roi, "this year, unprecedented protests have occurred in CRA centers: riots, arson, hunger strikes, self-harm, and even one suicide." He called on authorities to change the policy of detaining illegal migrants.
In 2018, 500 additional places were created in temporary detention centers for migrants in France. This is an unprecedented measure in the last ten years, human rights activists emphasize. At the same time, while the number of migrants placed in special centers did not increase over the year, the length of stay increased. On average, each migrant spent 15 days in the center instead of 12.8 days in 2017. In addition, in January, authorities increased the maximum possible detention period in centers from 45 to 90 days.
The number of families with children ending up in such centers also increased. Children who find themselves in the harsh conditions of CRA centers experience sleep disturbances, loss of appetite, and severe anxiety attacks, the report notes.
Temporary detention centers are under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior: migrants are sent there not by court order, but by decision of the police prefecture. All those held in such facilities can appeal their detention, have the right to a lawyer, visits, contact with relatives and their country's consulate, as well as assistance from human rights activists.