France: Toward a Just and Humane Asylum Policy

For over a year, Human Rights Watch investigated and monitored French asylum policies, conducting numerous interviews with lawyers, human rights advocates, refugee assistance organizations, asylum seekers, and government officials. In the course of this work, we have identified several aspects of French asylum policy that contravene governing international standards. In particular, we have found deficiencies in access to the asylum procedure, the procedural rights accorded during that procedure, and the jurisprudence interpreting the scope of France's obligations under the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (the "Refugee Convention"). We therefore welcome the Jospin government's plans to include asylum policy within its reform effort, and we urge it to seize this opportunity to bring France's policies and practices in line with its international commitments.