BY Claire Mom
The French parliament has amended its laws in a bid to control its immigration figures.
According to Le Monde, French media, the law which was adopted on Tuesday, creates a distinction between foreigners who are “in a situation of employment” and those who are not, with effects on what social benefits they can receive and when.
For benefits such as family allowances, immigrants who do not work will have to wait for five years until they are eligible, compared to 30 months for workers.
For the main housing aid known as APL, a residency requirement is set at five years for foreigners not in employment, and three months for others.
The law also creates “quotas” – which will be set by parliament – to cap “for the next three years” the number of foreigners admitted to the country (excluding asylum seekers).
The French government also agreed to create the possibility of stripping dual nationals of their French citizenship if they have been convicted of intentional homicide against any person in a “position of public authority” .
Also, the conditions for family reunification were revised, requiring the applicant to have been in France for two years instead of 18 months.
French President Emmanuel Macron called the law “courageous”, despite condemnation from the left-wing who said the freshly voted law is “a disgrace to our country of human rights”.
Macron insisted it was designed to “combat illegal immigration” and “better integrate workers”.
However, the development divided the president’s party, forcing Aurélien Rousseau, health minister, to resign in protest.
A previous draft was rejected by the parliament last week and in response, the government redrafted the bill, making some of its provisions tougher.
The move by France comes weeks after the United Kingdom and Canada announced revisions to their laws to control immigration figures.
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