France announces moratorium on deportations of foreign students who fled Ukraine
Ukrainians in front of a refugee aid center in Paris, March 23, 2022 in Paris.
AP - Francois Mori
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Four and a half months after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the French government announced a moratorium on the expulsion of foreign students who had fled the war.
A measure that will only apply until the next academic year.
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Officially, 3,500 third-country nationals benefit from the temporary protection of France.
Among them, the associations estimate the number of foreign students at less than a thousand.
Students that Paris was reluctant to welcome, believing that, except in danger to their lives, these young men and women could return to their country.
Pierre Henry, president of the
France Fraternités
association , denounces a measure that is as absurd as it is discriminatory: “
These are people who are trained in extremely diverse sectors such as medicine, pharmacy, IT.
And these are profiles that we need.
I should point out that most of them are French-speaking.
And then the other element is that of justice.
When you flee from war, the bombs do not look at the origin which is yours.
»
The moratorium was adopted on June 17 and was the subject of an "
interministerial decision
", explains the executive, confirming
comments in the daily
Le Monde
by the prefect Joseph Zimet
who leads the interministerial crisis unit on reception Ukrainians.
"
It was decided (...) that no obligation to leave the territory (OQTF) would be applied, nor any new OQTF decided until the start of the academic year
," he said.
The government is therefore backtracking, but will examine the situations on a case-by-case basis, each young person will have to present a student project and be able to justify sufficient resources.
France Fraternités will remain attentive.
“
At the moment, they are without a net.
They don't have access to anything.
They cannot work.
They have difficulties enrolling in universities.
We have to speed things up and give them access to student status
, ”
says
Pierre Henry
.
The government estimates that less than 200 people the number of students who will be affected, a figure that the association considers premature.
► To read also:
Ukraine: after the capture of the Luhansk region, Vladimir Putin orders the continuation of the offensive
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