The day before the adoption of the bill by the Council of Ministers, a precursor to its review by parliament, Emmaus International and Emmaus France, alongside hundreds of organisations, are mobilising throughout France to formulate proposals for realistic, humane and decent migration policy.
In November, we, hundreds of voluntary organisations and citizens’ organisations, decided to launch consultations nationwide to draw up a framework for alternative migration policy. The principles and proposals that emerge from the discussions will be presented at the first national general assembly meeting, due to take place on 26 and 27 May.
We see the effects of the government’s current policy in our daily lives (abuse of migrants, violations of their fundamental rights, volunteers’ work being criminalised, etc.). We are not fooled by the communications tools used by the government to present the bill. The few “positive measures” that it contains do little to veil its most repressive provisions – and should not justify them.
We, organisations and citizens’ organisations of the general assembly on migration, call on the President of the Republic, the government and parliamentarians to place people’s rights and dignity at the heart of our migration policy; people have left their countries, often risking their lives, to flee war, violations of their fundamental rights and abject poverty. Others, who have been living in France for years, are faced with all forms of discrimination and administrative obstacles.
For this reason, together with the General Assembly on Migration’s movements, voluntary organisations and citizens’ organisations of the Parisian region, Emmaus International and Emmaus France are organising a rally in front of the prefecture of Paris, on Wednesday 21 February at 1pm, 1 bis rue de Lutèce, 75004 Paris (metro station “Cité”)
Let’s resist with open arms!
