France 'illegally' detains uprising migrants

[Viva_La_Revolution]

Source: Al Jazeera

Human rights groups have questioned the legality of the French police's arrests of migrants from Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.

French police said they carried out the latest round of arrests on Wednesday night, detaining immigrants who were sleeping rough in parks in Paris and Marseille and drawing condemnation from rights groups.

Police said 60 more immigrants, mostly Tunisians with some Egyptians and Libyans, were arrested earlier on Tuesday in and around Paris, for "breaking residency laws".

In Marseille, about 15 immigrants were arrested as non-governmental organisations intervened to try to house them, Bernard Eynaud of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) said.


Read more: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/04/2011428191651858227.html

[midnight]

1. K&R... Sarkozy’s ratings are the worst for any president in the Fifth Republic at 12 months before a

the newspaper said. Previous presidents Jacques Chirac, Francois Mitterrand and Charles de Gaulle all had ratings in the mid-50s, while Valery Giscard d’Estaing had a 45 percent approval rating in April 1980, JDD said.

France will hold the election in the first half of 2012.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-17/sarkozy-s-popularity-falls-to-record-low-in-ifop-poll-jdd-says.html

[joeybee12]

2. And he thinks imiigrant-bashing will help him in the polls...

Worked for Pete Nazi Wilson in California.

[pampango]

5. "Critics allege Sarkozy is competing for votes with the far-right National Front,

whose support has been growing, according to polls."

"French President Nicolas Sarkozy sparked an uproar last summer by rounding up Roma minorities from unauthorised camps and deporting them to Romania and Bulgaria."

"Human rights groups have questioned the legality of the French police's arrests of migrants from Tunisia, Egypt and Libya."

If conservatives like Sarkozy don't like the Schengen Agreement, they should renegotiate or withdraw from it. Bashing immigrants who are complying with international agreements to which France is a party, just to win votes in the next election is, unfortunately, a typical conservative electoral strategy. Fear of "others" motivates their base.

Human rights groups have more credibility in this matter than a conservative politician like Sarkozy who has a history of immigrant bashing to attract votes from the far-right.

[Arctic Dave]

3. They can be free, just not in France.

Conflicting messages.

[dipsydoodle]

4. Italy pulled a stroke

by issuing temporary 6 month permits in the full knowledge they leave Italy. It was inevitable France would be pissed. When the permits expire I doubt that Italy would let them back across the border if France moved them to that area. Only alternative for France would be ship them back from where they came. There has been nothing published to demonstrate that most of these are not simply convenience migrants taking advantage of the situation.