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| Europe |
| French Tighten Immigration Controls |
| 2005-11-29 |
| French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin on Tuesday announced tightened controls on immigration, part of the government's response to riots and vandalism that shook the country this month. Marriages abroad between French citizens and foreigners will no longer be automatically recognized in France, Villepin said. Consulates must screen couples first before foreign partners can be granted French identity papers, he said. The measure is to be adopted by parliament in the first half of 2006, Villepin said. The prime minister also said the government should be able to enforce a law outlawing polygamy. There are 8,000-15,000 polygamous families in France, according to official figures. Some French officials cited polygamy as one reason that youths from underprivileged Muslim households joined in the rioting, saying that children from large polygamous families often have social-behavioral problems stemming from a lack of a father figure. The suggestion outraged opposition politicians, human rights groups and others. The government has moved swiftly to address the problems that led to the violence this month in France's impoverished suburbs, home to many immigrant families from North and west Africa. While promising to ease unemployment for youths and fight racial discrimination, the conservative government also promised tighter controls on immigration. President Jacques Chirac said two weeks ago that France must be stricter in enforcing the regulations of a law that allows immigrants to bring spouses and children to France. Villepin said he would not put that law into question, but wants to extend the period from one year to two years that immigrants must live in France before being able to bring their families here. The measure concerning families is the second source of legal immigration to France today after marriage, concerning some 25,000 people in 2004. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #1 The horse is out; time to close the barn door. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2005-11-29 11:19 |