Immigrant Rights Groups Sue French Government Over Online Permit System

"By dematerializing the appointment scheduling, the prefectures have virtually closed the doors to exceptional admission to residence, the only way to access a normal life for so many people who have been present in France for many years, and who live, work, and study among us," lament the members of this collective (Cimade, Ligue des Droits de l’Homme, RESF, Solidaires...).

The collective chose Thursday, International Human Rights Day, to file "urgent interim relief" proceedings before the courts in Paris and five departments of Ile-de-France, reports BFM, with the cases of Karomoko, a vocational high school student who has been in France for four years and has been waiting for an appointment for three months, and Wahiba, whose severely disabled son is at risk of losing his place in a medico-educational institute.

"The situation has further deteriorated with the lockdown, the prefectures have accumulated an enormous backlog," Marion Casanova, project manager at Secours catholique, explained to AFP. "These prefectural practices, silent and invisible, since the queues have disappeared, too often favor the trafficking of resale of appointments and they increase the precariousness of people," these associations denounce.

Last year, about fifty foreign nationals had already sued the State and demonstrated in front of the prefectures of Bobigny, Créteil, Evry and Nanterre. "A good part of the disputes had been resolved," recalls Marion Casanova.