The amnesty granted by French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy for illegal immigrants has expired. To date, 30,000 people have applied for the amnesty. However, after careful review, only 6,924 were entitled to stay in France. French authorities notified the remaining 23,000 illegal immigrants to leave the country within one month. Thousands of Turkish families who were notified of the deportation order are now considering their options with great concern. Interior Minister Sarkozy has demanded that governors accelerate the deportation process. SarkozyÂ’s amnesty circular, issued in June, was aimed at granting residence permits to immigrant families which met certain criteria. Under the circular, in order for a family to qualify for a residence permit, the parents had to have lived in France for at least two years, the children studied in France since 2005, at least one child be born in France, or come to France before the age of 13, and have no connection with their native country. However, many familiesÂ’ applications were turned down, even if they met those criteria.
Asserting that the circular was not properly implemented, the French non-governmental organizations (NGOs) advocating immigrant rights mobilized to stop massive deportations. Civil organizations are preparing to take the issue to the judiciary. Opposing deportation of children in particular, the organizations try to prevent their deportation by arranging French school guardians for the immigrant children. To expel the immigrants as soon possible, Sarkozy demanded the governors accelerate the deportation process. In a statement last week, Sarkozy said that 14,304 people have been deported this year, and they aim at deporting 11,000 more by the end of 2006.
Meanwhile, Chinese constitute one-third of the immigrants granted residence permits in France, revealing the substantial number of illegal Chinese immigrants. Nobody, including law enforcement authorities, predicted such a large number.