Hundreds of African migrants protest new legislation in Paris
Hundreds of migrants from African countries demonstrate in Paris against a new law tightening the French immigration policies and making deportations easier.
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Hundreds of African migrants protest in Paris new legislation, Paris, Frace on March 4, 2023 (Sputnik)
Hundreds of migrants from African countries took to the streets of Paris on Saturday to protest fresh legislation tightening the French immigration policies and making deportations easier, an RIA Novosti correspondent reported.
The demonstrators gathered at the Chateau Rouge square in the northern part of the capital and chanted slogans such as "Let's legalize all illegal immigrants" and "Work without documents is suffering for the Africans".
They carried banners that read "Against repression, detention, and deportations!" and "For a hospitable migration policy."
French non-governmental organizations and several foreign labor unions organized the rally.
France's new bill on asylum and migration, presented in early February, provides for the steps to facilitate expulsions of "delinquent" foreigners, a structural reorganization of the asylum system, and a mechanism to integrate certain undocumented workers.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has said that this is the French government's "toughest" bill on immigration.
UK to agree law banning boat migrants from seeking asylum: Reports
The protests came after media reported on Saturday that the UK government will reveal next week its plans to ban illegal migrants by boat from claiming asylum, facilitating their relocation abroad.
Stopping the migrant boats has been among UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's leading priorities, since a record 45,756 people crossed the English Channel in 2022 and came ashore in the country, according to British newspaper inews, up 60 percent from the previous year.
While the surge in migrant arrivals is expected soon in Spring, the UK government will agree on legislation to deport illegal migrants to a "safe" third country such as Rwanda "as soon as reasonably practicable" and ban them permanently from coming back, the report said.
The new step would face major obstacles as it risks infringing on the European Convention on Human Rights and will raise concerns about where tens of thousands of migrants will be accommodated as several considered disused military sites are unfit to live in.
