Paris [France], October 14: France has announced its intention to introduce a new immigration law at the beginning of 2025, less than a year after passing the previous law in January 2024, which followed intense debates in parliament and within the presidential majority.
French government spokesperson Maud Bregeon stated today that "a new immigration law is necessary to adapt several provisions" and explained that this law will be ready to present to parliament in early 2025.
The announcement comes amid growing controversy over immigration in France, particularly following the killing of a young woman in Paris by an illegal migrant who had been issued a deportation order that the French police had delayed in enforcing, bringing the issue of unexecuted deportation orders back into focus.
France is among the European countries with the highest number of deportation orders (OQTF), recording over 134,000 in 2022, according to a Court of Auditors report. However, the enforcement rate of these orders remains one of the lowest in Europe, at just 7 percent compared to 30 percent in some other European nations.
In this context, newly appointed French Prime Minister Michel Barnier, in a speech before the National Assembly (parliament), affirmed that the government is working to improve the enforcement of these orders, stating that it is essential to move past the ideological deadlock surrounding immigration.
However, Barnier did not provide specific details on how the government plans to achieve this, especially in terms of pressuring local authorities responsible for implementing deportation orders to focus on removing migrants convicted of crimes.
Source: Times of Oman