France forbids residents from aiding illegal immigrants
PARIS – It wasn’t yet 8 a.m. when police knocked on Monique Pouille’s door, searched her home and took her away – all because she recharged cellphones for illegal migrants.
A refugee loads up on food outside Calais City Hall. Humanitarian groups are planning to protest the law that forbids residents to aid illegal residents.
The 59-year-old volunteer with several groups in the Calais region of northern France was put behind bars and interrogated for three hours.
The French government forbids aiding illegal migrants and sets quotas for arrests of those who do as it tries to control growing clandestine immigration. This year’s target: 5,000 arrests.
Authorities contend the measure is aimed at those who profit from those in France illegally. Humanitarian associations and others point to a concerted effort to harass volunteers who provide a lifeline, or a simple kindness, to illegal immigrants.
Source:
France forbids residents from aiding illegal immigrants
dallasnews.com
