Over 100 members of the French parliament have signed a declaration demanding that Prime Minister Edouard Philippe give amnesty to all illegal migrants living in France, claiming the move will help to combat the Wuhan coronavirus.
The letter, which was signed by 104 predominantly left-wing MPs such as Socialist Party member Guillaume Garot, calls for President Emmanuel Macron’s government to emulate Portugal, which moved to give amnesty to illegals on March 28th.
The Portuguese government granted illegal migrants and asylum seekers residency rights so that they could access healthcare during the coronavirus outbreak, but did not specify how many illegals would benefit from the decree.
“We solemnly call on the French government to take the same measures as the Portuguese government. The health catastrophe we are experiencing forces us to act responsibly and without delay, as our Portuguese friends have done,” the French letter, published by Le Journal du Dimanche, states.
The letter argues that amnesty for the illegals will help make sure that migrants without access to healthcare or aid from non-governmental groups will have access to healthcare in case they catch the Chinese virus.
Over the last several years, France has become one of the prime destinations for illegal migrants and asylum seekers, seeing three record-breaking years for asylum claims in a row from 2017 to 2019.
Last year alone, the country saw an estimated 138,000 asylum claims, up from 123,000 the previous year.
The illegal immigrant population within France is estimated in the hundreds of thousands with the no-go suburbs of Paris, the Seine-Saint-Denis area, reportedly having at least 400,000 illegal migrants or 20 per cent of the area’s total population.
According to France Bleu, the Portuguese measures for amnesty are temporary for the duration of the coronavirus crisis. Portugal’s border agency has told AFP: “This is not an automatic regularisation.” It is unclear in the letter signed by the French MPs whether or not their proposal would be temporary as well.
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