On Thursday 4 May 2023, Gérald Darmanin accused Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of being “incapable of solving the migration problems on which she was elected” on the set of the franco-monegasque radio RMC. In response, Antonio Tajani, head of Italian diplomacy cancelled his visit to Paris, considering Gérald Darmanin’s proposals as unacceptable. Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna tried to ease tensions by raising the idea of rescheduling the meeting. Relations between Rome and Paris were already strained over migration issues, and this latest event suggests a new diplomatic crisis.
While Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced in January that no deportation to Iran would be considered, in April 2023 three Iranian nationals are concerned by deportation measures to Iran by France. NB: According to a statement by Amnesty International, Cimade and Iran Justice, the three nationals have expressed fears of persecution if returned to Iran.
While migrant camps are banned in Paris and the government is stepping up its dismantling policy, many migrants are struggling to find alternative accommodation. On 28 April 2023, 250 migrants sought shelter in an unoccupied castle an hour outside Paris but were evacuated by the gendarmerie due to potential dangers in the castle grounds. Although a temporary solution was found by the mayor of a neighbouring town (lending a room to spend the night), this situation highlights the lack of shelter for migrants in Paris.
In 2019, a regularisation procedure allowed doctors with non-EU diplomas to practice in France. This procedure ended on 20 April 2023. From this date, doctors with non-EU qualifications who have not initiated or obtained a procedure for authorisation to practice will no longer be able to practice in France, creating a gap in the supply of healthcare professionals. However, obtaining this procedure is long and the number of places is limited. At the same time, renewals of residence permits are also long and complicated for these practitioners.
When she presented her government’s roadmap on 26 April 2023, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced the postponement of the immigration bill for lack of a majority.
Last February, the French government planned an anti-migrant operation called Wuambushu in Mayotte. It consists of the destruction of shanty towns and the expulsion of migrants, mainly from the Comoros. On 25 April 2023, a first boat, which was supposed to land 70 migrants on the island of Anjouan, was unable to dock (due to the refusal of the Comorian authorities). Moreover, on Tuesday 25 April 2023, the prefect was forbidden by the court to destroy a shanty town, judging the operation too violent.
The Administrative Detention Centre (CRA) in Lyon, which opened in January 2022 and was inaugurated last July by the French Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, has been strongly criticised for the isolation it generates, the risk of violence and the impact of such confinement on the mental health of detainees. The facility currently houses around 120 people (mainly North Africans and Eastern Europeans). Most of them are foreigners released from prison or undocumented migrants arrested on the street for disturbing the peace.
On 22 April 2023, a fight broke out in a boat and the driver threw a dozen people into the water. On the beach at Sangatte, in the Pas-de-Calais, a dozen migrants were rescued. They wanted to cross the Channel to England.
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