Statistics from the French Ministry of the Interior indicated that the number of “foreigners who committed misdemeanors” and were expelled from France in 2023 increased by thirty percent compared to 2022, indicating that the Maghreb, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Central Europe were among the most prominent regions.
According to the French Interior Ministry, the number of “foreigners who committed misdemeanors” who were expelled from France in 2023 increased by thirty percent compared to 2022 reaching 4,686 people.
Media outlets reported that Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin chaired a meeting of regional officials in the Ministry of the Interior, “during which he praised this first batch,” and called for “further acceleration of procedures at this level, especially based on the content of the immigration law once it comes in effect.”
The most prominent regions to which individuals were expelled are the Maghreb, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Central Europe.
These numbers include individuals released from an “administrative detention center” or others against whom “ministerial expulsion orders” were issued, according to the ministry.
On the other hand, it does not include individuals who were expelled because their names were included in the file of reports to prevent extremism of a terrorist nature, which allows the prosecution of extremist Islamists.
The controversial immigration law, which was passed with difficulty by Parliament after the right wing sought to tighten its content, stipulates the expulsion of foreigners who have committed misdemeanors in regular situations, even if they arrived in France before their thirteenth birthday and even if their partner is French.
The law is still pending study by the Constitutional Council before it is issued.
Human rights and humanitarian organizations have expressed their concern over it because they see it as undermining the right to asylum, family life procedures, and other rights of foreigners linked to the judiciary and freedoms.
It is worth noting that this immigration file is the second most important in the country after the retirement law amendments, which the government forcefully passed through the use of Article 49.3 of the Constitution.
