Why in News?

• A charter plane grounded in France for a human trafficking investigation reached Mumbai with 276 Indians aboard. 

What’s in Today’s Article?

• What Happened at the French Airport?
• What Benefits does France Offer Asylum-Seekers?
• Some Key Changes the Bill Brings In
• Key Takeaways from the New Law

What Happened at the French Airport?

• The passengers had been heading to Nicaragua but their flight was stopped at the Varty airport in France, where it had stopped for refuelling on its journey from Fujairah in the UAE to Managua, Nicaragua.
• It is not yet clear why the Indians were flying to Nicaragua, and if their final destination was the US or Canada, which people often enter illegally from South American countries.
• 25 of the passengers did not return to India, instead requesting asylum in France and were transferred to a special zone in Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport for asylum-seekers.

What Benefits does France Offer Asylum-Seekers?

• France has had a generous system for asylum-seekers, providing them up to 300 euros a month while they wait for their papers to be processed.
• They can apply for housing in the hundreds of asylum-seeker housing projects across the country, and cheap meals are often easily available at food banks.
• They also get free health insurance while their application is being reviewed. Foreign residents get social security benefits, which includes assistance in paying rent, childcare, etc.
• However, all of this is set to change with a new, tougher law on immigration, which was cleared in the French Parliament recently.

Some Key Changes the Bill Brings In:

• Longer wait for non-EU migrants to get welfare:
  • People not from EU countries who are working in France will have to show they have been in the country for 30 months before they can receive social welfare benefits.
  • Those not working will have to wait five years.
• Review of medical care access: Over the coming year, the government will review current legislation that provides illegal residents unlimited access to government-funded medical care.
• Asylum-seekers can be detained: Asylum seekers whose behaviour constitutes a threat to public order can be placed in preventive detention, notably if there is a risk that the asylum seeker would flee.
• Tougher citizenship rules:
  • Children of foreigners born in France will no longer get French citizenship automatically. They will have to request citizenship once they turn 16.
  • The French nationality of dual-nationals can be revoked if they are convicted of the voluntary homicide of a police officer or government representative.
• Students have to make a deposit: Foreign students requesting a student residency permit, unless they have financial needs or excellent academic results, will have to make a refundable deposit to cover potential “sending back” costs.
• ‘Easier’ permits for sectors seeing labour shortage:
  • Non-EU foreigners working in areas with a labour shortage, such as hospitality, construction and farming, can apply for a residency and work permit.
  • This would allow 7,000 to 10,000 undocumented migrant workers a year to obtain residency permits.