France: asylum applications on the rise in 2022, such as deportations
Members of France Terre d'Asile welcome exiled Ukrainians, in Paris, on March 7, 2022. AFP - THOMAS COEX
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Asylum applications in France approached their record in 2022, a year also marked by an increase in regularizations and expulsions, according to provisional data published this Thursday, January 26 by the Ministry of the Interior.
Advertising
Read more
More than 137,000 first asylum applications were registered in 2022, a number up 31.3% compared to 2021 and close to the 2019 level (138,420).
All cases included - re-examinations, minors, Dublin procedures... - they even exceed the pre-pandemic record, with 156,103 requests in 2022 (151,283 in 2019).
The main countries of origin of first-time asylum seekers are Afghanistan (22,570 applications in 2022), in the hands of the Taliban since August 2021, Bangladesh, Turkey, Georgia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
At the end of 2022, according to the ministry, 65,833 Ukrainian adults benefited from temporary protection in France, an unprecedented European system launched after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia at the end of February 2022. It entitles them to care and right to stay which does not come under the status of
refugee
.
A 15% increase in evictions
In addition, 15,396 foreigners were deported last year, i.e. 15% more than in 2021, but a third less than in 2019 (23,746 then registered).
In 2022, the main focus was on the deportation of foreign offenders: 3,615 foreign offenders were deported in 2022, double the number (1,834) deported in 2021.
Regularizations increased by 8%, with 34,029 “
exceptional admissions to stay
” in 2022. An immigration bill, supported by the government, must be presented to the Council of Ministers on February 1.
The text aims to facilitate the expulsion of foreigners presenting a threat to public order.
It also provides for the creation of a “shortage trades” residence permit intended to respond to the shortage of labor in certain trades.
► To listen also: Guest France - Asylum requests in France: "We are in fairly high gauges"
(
With
AFP)
Ukrainians enjoy temporary protection
At the end of 2022, 65,833 Ukrainians, excluding minors, benefited from temporary protection in France, an unprecedented European system which aims to support these exiles since the start of the Russian invasion at the end of February 2022. Ukrainians
"are much fewer
" to request asylum, a longer-term device, acknowledges Beauvau.
They are 2,187 to have applied for asylum in 2022, and 702 to have obtained it.
The number of naturalizations fell in 2022, with 78,711 access to French nationality compared to 94,092 in 2021. But the level of 2022 is approaching that of before the pandemic.
The year 2021 had seen a high number of naturalizations due to "
the resumption of activity and the catch-up effect
", as well as "
the implementation of the system for recognizing the commitment of foreigners on the front line during the Covid-19 crisis
”.
On the visa side, despite increases of nearly 140% compared to 2021, visa applications and issuances remain half the levels reached in 2018 and 2019, before the pandemic.
Thus, 1.7 million visas were issued in 2022, out of the 2.3 million applications made.
In 2020 and 2021, Covid-19 had reduced visa issuance to around 700,000 per year.
(
With
AFP)
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
France
Immigration
International Migrations
Refugees