Excerpt:
As parliament begins debating France’s controversial immigration bill, hundreds protested outside the Assemblée Nationale in Paris, while a major human rights group warned the proposed laws could “punish” asylum seekers by reducing their rights.
Critics say the bill is repressive, but the centrist government insists it is creating a more efficient system to sift out genuine refugees from those simply seeking a better life in France.
“Under the guise of providing a more effective asylum system, the bill includes a series of measures that would diminish access to protection,” said Bénédicte Jeannerod, France director at Human Rights Watch (HRW).
“If France intends to improve the efficiency of its asylum system, it should start by allocating sufficient resources to the existing system, and not punish asylum seekers for these deficiencies by truncating their rights,” she concluded in a statement from the group.