Braving the winter cold, several collectives of undocumented migrants from Île-de-France, support associations and trade unions took part, on Sunday, December 18, in the solidarity march for the International Migrants Day instituted by the UN.
The Parisian procession, which stretched between the Porte de la Chapelle and the Place de la République, had as its watchword opposition to the new immigration bill announced for January 2023 by the government and the call for solidarity with migrants.
There were thousands of us this morning in Paris to demonstrate on the occasion of International Migrants Day!
One of the most important mobilizations of these last years for a December 18!
It was the 1st round against Darmanin's immigration law!
pic.twitter.com/kT6jHU4l9F
– March of Solidarity (@MSolidarites) December 18, 2022
"We demonstrate every year to bring this day to life, but it takes place this year in a particular context", explains Mody, spokesperson for the Collectif des sans-papiers de Montreuil (93).
"We want to fight against the law due in January. It will further keep people in an irregular situation in fear and risk criminalizing us."
If its outlines have not yet been specified, the government has indicated that it wants to table a “draft law relating to asylum and immigration in the Republic” in early 2023, in order to set up “chosen immigration”.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin raised the possibility of distributing residence permits for so-called “in tension” jobs, while accelerating the expulsion of people placed under an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF).
People who see their first asylum application rejected would also be immediately placed under OQTF.
"We are scared"
The project worries Mody, who has been living in an irregular situation in France since 2018 after a five-year trip and a crossing of the Mediterranean.
"We are afraid of this law", explains the 37-year-old Malian, as the procession led by the collectives of undocumented migrants rushes towards the Place de la République.
"Gérald Darmanin said he wanted to make the life of people under OQTF impossible. I've been in France for four years, I would like to do training, change jobs… And they can come and pick me up from my house like a criminal because I'm in an irregular situation. It's horrible. It took me five years to come to France, I've been living there for four years. If I'm expelled, they'll fuck up my whole life. the air."
"We are in a context that concerns us deeply", rebounds Geneviève Jacques, former president and activist of Cimade, crossed in the demonstration.
“We have only heard a few snippets of the new bill, but we are in a period where far-right ideas are thriving. foreigners, who are treated as delinquents, while some have had very painful and difficult migratory journeys. This is a denial of reality, and we are convinced that we must change the way we look at these men and women , while there are deaths every day in the Mediterranean."
Since January 1, 2022, in fact, 1,988 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean, a number slightly higher than 2021, according to the Missing Migrants Project.
In all, this year, 197,560 people attempted the crossing, 3,000 more than last year.
A little further in the procession, which chants "regularization for all undocumented migrants", a group of bicycles and scooters catches the eye.
Waving green flags, undocumented delivery platform workers came out to voice their exasperation.
Publicized at the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, when they were on the front line, since the end of the confinements they have fallen into oblivion without their situation having changed.
Undocumented delivery platform workers were at the demonstration in Paris on Sunday, December 18, 2022. © Lou Roméo, France 24
Situation of "overexploitation"
"Our situation has not improved," explains Thomas, who works for the UberEats platform at the wheel of his red scooter.
"We work when it is -5 degrees, we contribute, we pay taxes and we are not entitled to anything, we are criminalized. We are here to shout our fed up, we want to be regularized and be able to work legally like everyone else. UberEats is aware of the situation and it does nothing. We've had enough!"
Although their number is by definition difficult to assess, there are currently between 400,000 and one million undocumented workers in France.
Employed in the construction, catering, cleaning or personal assistance sectors, many of them experience difficult working conditions, where abuses are not uncommon.
Demonstration by support groups for Sans-Papiers, in Paris, Sunday, December 18, 2022. © Lou Roméo, France 24
“Migrant workers mostly live in a situation of overexploitation,” says Jean-Albert Guidou, of the CGT.
"Undocumented migrants work on construction sites, in construction, in cleaning... These are difficult jobs, where the labor code is often not applied. This march is an opportunity to show our solidarity with them. Undocumented workers paid a high price for the football World Cup, and they are also the ones who work on the construction sites of the Olympic Games."
Double coincidence: the demonstration takes place on the day of the final of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, where many migrant workers died.
And it started from Porte de la Chapelle, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, opposite the Adidas Arena construction site.
Built for the Olympics, the 7,800-seat building will host badminton and rhythmic gymnastics events in 2024.
In early December, an investigation published in the newspaper Le Monde reported many undocumented workers employed illegally on various Olympic Games sites, in Paris and Seine-Saint-Denis.
>> To read: Mondial-2022 in Qatar: will the slaughter on the construction sites lead to a boycott?
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