Reaction to the adoption of amendments by the Committee on Laws in the Senate through the framework of the bill “control immigration, improve integration”

We are outraged by the adoption in the Law Commission of an amendment aimed at restricting the conditions for issuing student residence permit.

 

This amendment proposes two problematic measures:

1) It requires the beneficiaries of a multi-annual “student” residence permit to provide information annually attesting to the real and serious nature of their studies;

2) it creates a new ground for withdrawal of the multi-annual “student” residence permit against foreigners who have not complied with the obligation described above

 

We are not in favor of this amendment for several reasons:

 

• It jeopardizes the right to a dignified life in accordance with personal plans.
• It presupposes that universities are “illegal immigration channels”. We find it inconceivable that institutions and students can be suspected in such a way. Universities must be welcoming places, places where models of social insertion are created and places of encounter, reflection and sharing.
• It should be up to the university, which has the competence, to decide whether the student is fit to continue his or her studies.
• Instead of creating a more flexible access to the residence permit, this amendment is attempting to make it more rigid. The “real and serious motif” is not specified or detailed and may not take into consideration the different situations. This amendment does not take into account the fact that students have the right to repeat a year or to reorient themselves.
• Providing annual proof of residence permit will overburden the university administration, which will have to help students to provide the required documents.
• Dematerialization adds a practical difficulty for students as well as for university administrations.
• These conditions discourage students: causes stress and terrible conditions, which make it difficult for them to pursue their studies in stable and serene conditions.
• There is a problem of consistency: to justify the renewal of the title, the student should provide a document that attests to the registration among others. However, if the application calendar does not correspond to the residence permit calendar and the student is not in possession of this document, he or she risks being refused renewal.

 

Finally, we are very concerned that this tightening would force the university to become a place of control and would play the role of the prefecture. This would indirectly reinforce the control of the prefectures over the university.

 

The UEE defends an integration through higher education, which allows to take into account the aspirations and life projects of exiled people.

 

Exiled people must be able to choose their life path and have the means to instruct themselves and access higher education, in order to have better living conditions.

 

We ask parliamentarians to delete this amendment.

 

Education is a human right! We must protect it!