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Laundry lying in the courtyard of an administrative detention center at Mesnil-Amelot, north of Paris, on May 6, 2019 (photo illustration). Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP

According to the Anafé association, in 2018, 331 foreigners, tourists or asylum seekers were placed in a detention center after being placed in the waiting area of ​​a French airport. This is the case of three South American tourists who transited at Roissy airport in late July. They wanted to go on holiday in Spain and visit their family in Switzerland, but they ended up in a detention center in Roissy, after they were refused entry to the airport.

They did not know each other but experienced the same situation. Jenifer and Liliana, two Colombian women, and Wilma, Venezuelan, are controlled by police at the borders at Roissy airport, a few days apart.

In order to gain access to the Schengen area, foreigners must fulfill certain conditions: hold a passport, a visa, financial guarantees or proof of accommodation in the country of final destination. The aim of the authorities is to make sure that tourists do not intend to stay in Europe.

No accommodation certificates

But the three women have little money on them, and do not have the accommodation certificates. Their passport is removed. They are placed in the waiting zone of person pending in Roissy, the place where are kept the people refused entry to the territory.

" We were put in a cell for 24 hours and handcuffed us. The police were making fun of us, they forced us to undress, (to remove) even our underwear, everything. It was really humiliating, "says Liliana.

After custody and the obligation to leave French territory, they are taken to a detention center near Rouen, before being released on August 11th. Always under the pretext of a procedure of removal from the French territory, they wait for the hearing of August 23 which should lift the prohibition.

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