RIGHTS-FRANCE: Support Groups Demand a Change in Immigration Laws

By Julio Godoy Reprint | | Print |

Julio Godoy

PARIS, Dec 29 2001 (IPS) - Moussa Brihmat has lived all his life in France, and speaks only French.

Born in the southern city of Lyon 49 years ago, French authorities wanted to deport him to Algeria, “his country of origin”, on Dec 26.

Brihmat is a victim of what rights groups call “the double punishment” meted out to foreigners living in France.

Brihmat was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to five years in prison in 1994. He was supposed to be deported to Algeria, immediately after completing his prison term in 1997.

Luckily for him, the Ministry of Interior forgot to deport him in 1997, after his release.

Brihmat has since 1997 led an exemplary life, found a regular job, regained legal tutelage of his two children, and launched a support group for immigrants in conflict with the law, a rights activist says.

“Moussa Brihmat is a model of reintegration of former criminals into society,” claims Bernard Bloze, director of the National Campaign Against the Double Punishment of Foreigners.

Brihmat’s problem heightened after he travelled to Lyon, his birthplace, to renew his residence permit. There, a local official found his old criminal record, and took him back to prison to await deportation.

However, before his deportation on Dec 26, Brihmat had become a symbol of public outrage of the French immigration law also known as “Pasqua act”.

The law has been named after the former Minister of Interior, Charles Pasqua, who masterminded it.

Pasqua launched a campaign between 1993 and 1995 against “criminal foreigners”, that led to the introduction of the “double sentences” for immigrants in conflict with the law. Under the law, foreigners are not only sentenced to prison, but they are also deported and banned from ever coming back to France.

Pasqua, 74, is himself now facing criminal charges, for alleged corruption and misuse of public property during his time as Minister of Interior, and may well spend the rest of his days in prison.

Rights activists have been fighting Pasqua’s law since its introduction. They argue that the law is discriminatory and unsuitable for a democratic state, like France.

Following Brihmat’s latest imprisonment on Dec 19, rights groups urged the government to shelve the deportation order and review Pascal’s law.

They argued that Brihmant’s deportation to Algeria would ruin his family life.

“France would send Brihmat to a country where he has never been and where he has no ties, and force his children to live on handouts in France,” says Albert Levy, deputy president of the union of lawyers.

Bertrand Tavernier, a respected French filmmaker, who has portrayed the human consequences of the “double punishment” in his most recent film, described the plan to deport Brihmant to Algeria as “a scandalous, coward measure”.

At the last minute, following pressure from rights groups, the Ministry of Interior suspended the expulsion order and granted Brihmat a temporary residence permit. Gilbert Payet, general secretary of the prefecture of Lyon, said, “we now have enough time to consider Mr Brihmat’s case”.

“This is great news,” said Bolze.

Brihmat, too, was happy with the ministry’s decision. “I had great trust in the French justice and I was not disappointed,” he said. “This is the best season’s gift one could have given me and my children.”

“Now, I will have more reason to hug them on the New Year,” he added.

But Bolze warned that Brihmat’s temporary triumph over the Pasqua law “should not be seen as the beautiful tree that hides the mean forest”.

Bolze claimed that during Brihmat’s latest detention, some 50 immigrants were expelled from France under the Pasqua law.

Bolze believes that Brihmat’s case may help to re-launch the campaign against the Pasqua law. “I hope that his case will raise the political awareness on the undemocratic nature of the law,” he said.

In January, with the support of filmmaker Tavernier, Bolze will meet French legislators to discuss possible changes in the Pasqua law.

Tavernier’s latest film, “Histoires des vies briss” (Stories of Broken Lives), will be screened at the French parliament on Jan 23.