Less than five days after the start of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, the proposal had created a lively controversy on social networks. To guarantee Ukrainian asylum seekers to be able to move freely on French territory, the SNCF indicated on Monday, February 28, that it would allow them to travel free of charge on board its trains.
“The drama that is hitting Ukraine affects us all. The SNCF group and the railway workers stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian refugees. Like our European counterparts, we will allow them to travel free of charge in France on board the TGV and Intercités”, confirmed the CEO. of the group, Jean-Pierre Farandou on Twitter. A position deemed “opportunistic”, even “hypocritical” by many Internet users, who regret that this proposal does not extend to all refugees landed on French soil, regardless of their nationality.
“I am an SNCF controller, I find myself in front of two refugees, one is Ukrainian and the other is Somali, what do I do?” Asks Hedi Limem, founder of a site specializing in Tunisian sport, on the blue bird network. His post was retweeted by more than 20,000 people. Are we witnessing a hierarchy of refugees according to their country of origin and/or their skin color? And above all, is it possible – and legal – to treat Ukrainian refugees differently from other refugees, whether this concerns the conditions of their reception or the quality of their integration in France?
“We are going to have massive waves”
“Absolutely not”, replies tit for tat Aude Rimailho, lawyer at the Paris bar, specializing in asylum law. For the specialist, this would result in “clear and clear discrimination between the various asylum seekers”, based on their country of origin. The initiative of the SNCF therefore seems, according to her, “questionable”. “To put it in place, it would be necessary to make a distinction between travelers according to their nationality or their skin color, which would violate the principle of non-discrimination”, she explains.
The specialist regrets “an announcement effect” and a “communication coup” from the SNCF. “There is no reason to grant Ukrainians this gratuity and refuse it to Afghans or Syrians, for example, who are also asylum seekers,” she laments, worrying about the “ambient distinction” between the refugees.
Beyond the SNCF proposal, recent analyzes by political figures raise the question of the hierarchy of refugees. “We are going to have massive influxes, it must be foreseen. It will undoubtedly be high quality immigration. These will be intellectuals from whom we can take advantage”, commented Jean-Louis Bourlanges, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee at the National Assembly, on February 25, on European 1, about Ukrainian immigration. “These are perfectly shocking remarks: I do not see why we would integrate more of an intellectual rather than a plumber or a babysitter”, reacts Elodie Journeau, lawyer at the Paris bar – and this even if the deputy does not have not formally called for a distinction.
The specialist recalls that various international texts, in particular the Geneva Convention, already determine the conditions under which protection can be provided to an asylum seeker. “According to these texts, France does not have to sort through migrant populations and must examine all requests from people who come to seek the right of asylum on our soil, respecting the principle of non-refoulement. , and without discrimination with regard to gender, origin or religion. Moreover, an asylum seeker does not stand out on his ability to bring something or not to the host country”, she argue.
Speed of file processing
In France, a person in exile can claim several statuses from the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (Ofpra). Firstly, that of refugee, granted in particular to foreigners persecuted by their country of origin because of “their race, their religion, their nationality, their membership of a certain social group, their political affiliations or their actions in favor of freedom”. Subsidiary protection, then, granted to people who do not benefit from refugee status but are exposed in their countries to the threat of the death penalty, torture, inhuman or degrading treatment, or, in the case of a civilian, “a serious, direct and individual threat to his life or person due to generalized violence resulting from a situation of internal or international armed conflict”.
Requests supposed to be received in the same way by the French authorities, without discrimination between possible refugees. “But I fear that we are actually making a distinction in the speed of processing the files of the various asylum seekers”, worries Elodie Journeau. If the lawyer does not wish “in any case” to question “the urgency of processing Ukrainian requests”, she is surprised not to have noted such efficiency in the processing of files for Afghan or Syrian refugees, for example , yet “they too are victims of persecutions, mass murders and illegal executions”.
“It’s incredibly fast: a policy has clearly been put in place with the prefectures to speed up Ukrainian requests”, confirms Aude Rimailho, who however foresees a possible “temporization” of these files in the days to come. “The Ofpra and the National Court of Asylum already had a lot of cases to deal with and will therefore not respond immediately to all these requests.”
“Immense hypocrisy”
Beyond the processing of files, some specialists say they are surprised by the number of accommodation places and initiatives deployed on the territory to welcome Ukrainian refugees. “We have been fighting for years to obtain more accommodation places for asylum seekers, we see that the refugee tents are still torn in Calais, but we suddenly see dozens of solutions put in place for asylum seekers. Ukrainian asylum”, notes Elodie Journeau.
“The reception capacities will be found”, affirmed Didier Leschi, director general of the French Office for Immigration and Integration (Ofii), Monday on France Info. “France is preparing. The first reception, we will be able to do. […] We have, for example, an accommodation park for asylum seekers which can be enlarged”, he explained, adding nevertheless that the question of “long-term reception” should be asked.
“Let’s call a spade a spade: there are very clear signs of prioritization for Ukrainian exiles, including in certain associations”, deciphers Alain Morice, member of the Migreurop network and director of research emeritus at the CNRS. The man regrets to L’Express “an immense hypocrisy” and a “very clear contradiction” of the political class on the subject of the reception of exiles, made evident by the current situation. However, everyone recognizes the urgency of the Ukrainian situation. According to the UN, 836,000 people have already reached neighboring countries.