PARIS, March 11, 2025 – The Solidaires trade union has organized a rally for Saturday in Clermont-Ferrand, France, to demand the repeal of the immigration circular signed by French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau last January.
In a statement, the union encourages its members to gather on Saturday in Clermont-Ferrand “to say no to the war against migrants.”
“For months, Interior Minister Retailleau has made numerous statements aimed at eliminating opportunities to welcome and regularize migrants. This occurs against a backdrop of unchecked racism fueled by the far-right. The minister has issued strict instructions to prefects not to regularize foreign nationals residing in France without residency permits,” the union asserts.
“In Clermont-Ferrand, the zeal of the prefecture is already apparent: a mother and her 7-day-old daughter have been removed from emergency housing and left homeless. Professionals are tasked with ‘assessing the vulnerability’ of individuals in emergency accommodation. Is the prefecture preparing for another mass eviction, as occurred last year, just as spring arrives? Let there be no doubt about how the people of Clermont-Ferrand will respond!” it continues.
“In line with the Darmanin law of January 2024, this Retailleau circular undermines the possibilities for exceptional regularization of foreigners based on family or employment situations. It extends the required length of stay in France from 5 years to 7 years, or 3 years based on work grounds, to apply for exceptional regularization (…),” the statement highlights.
The union criticized the notion that exiles seek only to “benefit from accommodation, social minimums, or free healthcare.” It emphasizes that migrants flee violence, war, criminal organizations, and poverty, noting that Western states do not necessarily have clean hands in these matters.
“Today, Retailleau aims to exacerbate these issues by proposing yet another law (the thirty-first since 1980) that would, among other things, restrict access to State Medical Aid. This is both foolish and blatantly xenophobic,” the union contends.
“By making regularizations nearly impossible, as desired by Retailleau, Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin, Prime Minister François Bayrou, and the entire far-right, a population of undocumented individuals is created. This expands the cohort of those without rights and disregards the fact that many of these people work in sectors where their presence is essential (…). Furthermore, in an additional act of xenophobia, hundreds of legally residing foreign workers in Clermont-Ferrand and elsewhere are losing their jobs due to delays in the renewal of residence permits by prefectures,” the text notes.
“Maintaining this policy of stigmatizing foreigners allows the public to believe that zero immigration is achievable while continually designating scapegoats to undermine any challenge to liberal policies (…),” the statement concludes.
The Solidaires trade union is an interprofessional organization encompassing all professional sectors and departments across France. It comprises 33 federations or professional unions and 55 trade organizations.
Source:
https://al24news.com/en/french-trade-union-calls-for-rally-against-retailleau-circular/