why is the OQTF almost never applied in France?

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After the drama, the questions. It has now been six days since Philippine’s body was found in the Bois de Boulogne. A judicial investigation has been opened for murder, rape and fraud, indicates our local Paris news. And a suspect was arrested in Switzerland on Tuesday September 24, 2024.

His profile arouses strong reactions in France. In 2021, this 22-year-old Moroccan was sentenced to seven years in prison for rape. Incarcerated for five years then sent to an administrative detention center after a modified sentence, he was released on September 3, 2024.

Under house arrest, he was also subject to an OQTF (obligation to leave French territory) upon his arrival at the CRA. Ultimately, these administrative decisions are rarely applied. We explain why.

OQTFs executed less and less

First observation: “in reality, many OQTFs are enacted, but very few are executed; both from the notified persons and the authorities,” relates to actu.fr M^e Blandine Marty, specialist in immigration law since 2010 in Limoges. The latest available figures from the Court of Auditors prove this.

In 2022, France declared 134 280 OQTF to really apply it 6.9%or 9,265. In 2021, it was 6% of administrative decisions executed for 124,111 pronounced. In 2022, it was 6.9% for 107,488 measures pronounced.

If the figures do not exceed 7%, before the Covid-19 health crisis, they were almost 25% sentences carried out in 2012 to gradually decrease to 12.2% in 2019.

Measures taken too quickly

How to explain this phenomenon? “Today he is very easy to enact an OQTF,” continues the lawyer. Clearly, as soon as a person is undocumented, or in an irregular situation on French territory, they can be notified of an obligation to leave French territory.

In addition, the legal arsenal made available to the authorities has never been so extensive.

The immigration law carried by the former Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, adopted on January 26, 2024, has again hardened your tone. For example, it removes the legal protections enjoyed by certain foreigners in an irregular situation (foreigners who arrived in France before the age of 13, spouse of a French person, etc.) against systematic OQTF.

Another example, foreigners targeted by an OQTF who could not be expelled to their country at war, for example, can be placed under house arrest. for a maximum of three years compared to a year ago.

“The police often come across undocumented people, during checks at workplaces or at roadblocks, because this population is present everywhere,” insists the lawyer. Complicated to accurately quantify the number of undocumented people, they would be between 300,000 and 400,000 in 2021according to the latest figures from the Museum of Immigration History.

Once checked, undocumented people are brought to the police station the time of verifications and generally issued with an OQTF by the prefecture. It’s almost that simple.

More meaning

Are the OQTFs no longer useful? In the department of Haute-Vienne where Blandine Marty works, “people under OQTF are parents with school children, couplesof the minor childrenof the single mothers or elderly people with health problems.”

In general, nothing to do with the profile of the main suspect therefore. “He is truly the exception,” continues the lawyer. Difficult situations, far from legal reality. ” Of the vulnerable peoplewithout papers who have no right to anything and who work in precarious conditions,” concludes the lawyer withactu.fr.

A necessary workforce for employers who are increasingly suffering from a shortage of workers. “They hire with full knowledge of the facts. »

The pass, a “thorny” subject

Another problem which would have explained this difference between the number of OQTFs notified and executed is the problem of “consular passes”. This document which was missing in the Pauline murder case, because it arrived after the deadline.

“It’s a diplomatic battle, for example between Algeria and France, Morocco and France,” explains the lawyer toactu.fr.

This pass is necessary to be able to send a person under OQTF back to their country. It is even “the thorniest question”, according to a parliamentary report published in 2022. Several countries do not respond, or very little, to these requests. For example, in 2021, France requested almost 5,500, only half were delivered.

In reality, the response rate depends on the country. According to a parliamentary report, in recent years, Morocco and Algeria accepted only half French requests, and barely a third of the favorable response for Tunisia.

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