Today, many things are said about asylum seekers and refugees. We revisit these topics with concrete responses, useful for a better understanding for the numerous “arsonists” of public opinion for electoral purposes.
Asylum seekers are illegal immigrants or “undocumented”
Asylum seekers are in a regular situation during the procedure
Any foreigner present in France can claim persecution reasons that forced them to leave their country or prevent them from returning. To do so, they register their request at the prefecture and thus find themselves in a regular situation during the procedure. When they obtain protection, they are no longer “asylum seekers” but receive a document allowing them to reside legally in France. In case of rejection of the application, they become “rejected” but this does not automatically make them illegal immigrants: they can indeed apply for another residence permit according to their situation (family, health, etc.) or benefit from a voluntary departure period during which they can organize their return.
Source: Code of Entry and Residence of Foreigners and Right of Asylum
Everyone wants to take refuge in Europe
86% of refugees were in developing countries in 2013
Conflicts worldwide forced nearly 20 million people to flee their homes. Turkey is the leading host country for people fleeing persecution, mainly from Syria, with 1.6 million registered refugees. The conflict in Syria alone has resulted in the displacement of more than 4 million people since 2011. A large part of them are hosted in Lebanon, which hosts 1.2 million refugees, more than a quarter of its population. People seeking protection generally take refuge in neighboring countries: in 2014, the United Nations estimated that 86% of refugees were in developing countries.
Source: UNHCR, Asylum trends 2013 & 2014 / EUROSTAT, Asylum Applications in the EU in 2014
France hosts more asylum seekers than other European countries
Relative to its population, France was the 12th host country in Europe in 2014
With 64,811 asylum applications recorded in 2014 (including minors and re-examinations), France ranks fourth in Europe behind Germany, Sweden, and Italy. This represents 10% of the EU’s asylum applications. But if we relate this number to the national population, which is a more relevant indicator to assess the significance of asylum demand in a country, France ranks 12th among all EU member states with 1,000 asylum seekers per 1 million inhabitants. Thus, France hosts fewer asylum seekers than the average observed in the entire EU, which was 1,200 seekers per 1 million inhabitants in 2014.
Source: EUROSTAT, Asylum Applications in the EU in 2014
The demand for asylum has never been as high in France
For example, in 1989, there were 35% more asylum applications than in 2014
In 2014, there were 45,454 first-time asylum applications (excluding accompanying minors and re-examinations), which is 2% fewer asylum applications than the previous year. The increase has been noticeable since 2007, but the number of requests recorded that year was particularly low (23,804 first requests). The demand for asylum does not follow a linear progression. France recorded more requests than in 2014 from 1989 (a record year with 35% more applications than in 2014) to 1991, and from 2001 to 2004. During the exile of Asian “boat people” fleeing persecution at the end of the 1970s, France decided to welcome nearly 130,000 Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians. While the Syrian crisis has already caused the exile of more than 4 million people, France has committed to welcoming 500 Syrians in 2015.
Source: OFPRA, 2014 Activity Report / K. MESLIN, Reception of the boat people: an atypical political mobilization (2006)
There are many refugees in France
Only 0.29% of people residing in France benefit from asylum protection
In 2014, 14,589 protection decisions (refugees, subsidiary protections, or stateless persons) were made by the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA) or following an appeal before the National Court of Asylum (CNDA). In total, OFPRA records 193,552 people present in France who have been placed under its protection since its creation in 1952. The population in France on January 1, 2015, was 66.3 million inhabitants, so the percentage of refugees within the French population is 0.29%.
Source: OFPRA, 2014 Activity Report / INSEE, Population Evolution until 2015
