France Bans Nigerian Students, Others From Relocating With Families

The French parliament has enacted a law prohibiting international students, including those from Nigeria, from bringing their families to France.

Following the approval of a revised version, the far-right National Rally party of Marine Le Pen and the centrist Renaissance party of President Emmanuel Macron endorsed this proposal.

The updated immigration law forbids the confinement of children in detention facilities, tightens regulations on family reunions, and limits immigrants’ access to government benefits.

Notably, a controversial part of the law makes a distinction regarding benefit eligibility between citizens and migrants, including those who are legally resident in France.

The right-wing parties backed the stronger, revised version of the measure, which is why it was recently approved.

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The modified bill was praised by Ms. Le Pen as a “ideological victory” for the far-right.

Eric Ciotti, the chairman of the right-wing Republican Party, proclaimed, “This is our bill.” It was “firm and courageous,” as he put it.

On the other hand, leftists asserted that Macron was supporting the far-right. “History will remember those who betrayed their convictions,” Olivier Faure, the chairman of the Socialist Party, said.

Furthermore, the chief executives of one-third of France’s regions have declared their reluctance to put important laws into effect.

The French vote was held just hours before an agreement was reached by the EU to revamp the refugee system in all 27 of its member nations.

Members of the European Parliament and EU countries reached a new agreement that calls for the establishment of border detention centres and the expeditious repatriation of individuals who are denied asylum.

The new method permits the relocation of asylum seekers from southern member states, which have the highest number of entries, to other nations. It was hailed as a historic accord by Parliament President Roberta Metsola.