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Protesters against the asylum-immigration bill in February 2018 in Paris (photo illustration). STEPHANE OF SAKUTIN / AFP

Still no pilot at the head of the governance of the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (Ofpra). After a month without managing director at the head of the organization, NGOs and board members are worried.

The asylum while waiting for a boss. It has been almost a month since Pascal Brice , the former Director General of Ofpra, left his post leaving behind a vacant seat. His six years at the head of the organization have convinced neither the President of the Republic, nor the Ministers of the Interior and Foreign Affairs, to renew the 52-year-old diplomat in office.

But this prolonged vacancy worries. Especially since it comes at a time when the asylum application is on the rise and the European states are tearing themselves apart to distribute the rescued migrants in the Mediterranean. To denounce a situation they deem " unacceptable and disturbing, " four of the board members wrote a letter to the president, asking them to make " quick and informed " decisions.

Nine NGOs, including Emmaus and Secours Catholique, expressed their deep concern. All alert to the need for " the greatest independence from political power " for the safeguarding of the right of asylum. But in the government, no name leaks. It will therefore still be necessary to arm yourself with patience to know the name of who will be the incarnation of a policy on asylum in France.

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