Nations are out of humane touch. France wants Immigrants entering by professional reasons but not for Humanitarian or searching for a better life.


Apparently they forgot the Freedom, Democracy and rights for Individuals. I am hoping that France remembered the legacy of FREDERIC AUGUSTE BARTHOLDI.

PARIS – France's first immigration minister claimed success Thursday for his no-nonsense policy on illegal immigration, saying the number of expulsions increased 80 percent this year while the number of people living illegally went down.

Brice Hortefeux said he expected the Europe Union to follow France's example and adopt an immigration pact to coordinate policies when France assumes the rotating presidency July 1. He said the pact would include an accord among the 27-member body not to undertake a mass legalization of migrants.

On Wednesday, the EU parliament adopted new rules for expelling illegal immigrants. However, the measures do not address issues like asylum, prevention or tackling problems at the source – all encompassed in the French pact.
Hortefeux, among the most controversial members of the government, insisted that Europe largely shares French concerns over illegal immigration.

France seeks to choose its immigrants with an emphasis on those with skills and visas enabling them to work. Their ranks were up by 36.7 percent over the past year, Hortefeux said at a news conference marking his first year on the job. France wants half of its immigrants to be entering for professional reasons by 2012.

He said France expelled 80 percent more illegal immigrants in the first five months of 2008, compared with the same period last year. From June 2007 to May 2008 it expelled 29,729 illegal aliens.

The number of voluntary departures was up 374 percent over the past year, and 38 percent so far in 2008, Hortefeux said, suggesting that immigrants living in France without papers “now understand our rules.”

“France is managing to calmly master this migratory flux,” he said.

Overall, he estimated there are 8 percent fewer illegal aliens in France today than before he took office. Officials say there are 200,000 to 400,000 people living in France illegally.

Hortefeux was optimistic about the EU's adoption of a French-proposed immigration pact, saying it could happen as early as October – halfway into the French presidency.

Hortefeux's ministry also aims to preserve the French national identity and to attack the migratory flux in countries that are the source of illegal immigration. France has signed development pacts with five African countries this year – Tunisia, Senegal, Benin, Gabon and the Republic of Congo.

Immigration around the Globe: U.K. Congolese rapist with HIV who raped mother of three fights deportation because of 'dangers' in his own country.




A man who raped a frail mother of three while HIV positive is trying to escape deportation.
Linkoy Muhuri, a failed asylum seeker from the Congo, claims he faces dangers in his own country because of his medical condition and his ethnicity.

The former hairdresser, 40, was jailed for ten years after attacking the Aids counsellor, 34, who has sickle cell anaemia and had her feet covered in bandages at the time.

During his prison sentence, he has been eligible for free treatment for HIV worth tens of thousands of pounds.

Despite a judge recommending him for deportation on his release, his wife and two children were allowed to stay in Britain so they could visit him.

Muhuri, who came to Britain in 1999, has now served his sentence. But appearing before an Asylum and Immigration Tribunal in Brentford, West London, yesterday he produced more reasons as to why he should be allowed to stay.

As well as medical and family reasons, his lawyer secured him a two-month reprieve by arguing that his "ethnicity" could put him in danger in the Congo.

While his father is Congolese, his mother is Rwandan and may have been involved in politics, the tribunal heard.

Muhuri, who is understood to be a Hutu, also claims he was tortured in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for his political views.

He was originally denied asylum because Home Office officials did not believe he was fleeing for his life.

Yesterday, immigration judge Lynn Verity delayed the full deportation hearing until June to give the Home Office the opportunity - if it wished - to look into Muhuri's latest claim.

She added that a full four-hour hearing would be required to hear all the "complex issues" in his case, including his "medical issue" and the "regard to family life".

"This is not part-heard, we haven't even started yet," she said.

During the hearing Muhuri, who was dressed smartly in a suit and tie, glanced at two women, believed to include his wife, in the public gallery.

Grace Brown, for Muhuri, said he felt the "interests of justice" may not be served if the Home Office were not given time to review his claim.

Muhuri raped his victim seven years ago, three and a half months after marrying his girlfriend Nothemba Jozi in North London.

He lived in Tottenham at the time. It will be up to the asylum and immigration panel to make a final decision on deportation. However, Muhuri could then still appeal