Migration
The Migration Clinic allows students to participate in the activities of NGOs and other actors supporting migrants in France. With the intensification of conflicts in the Middle East, migrants face an unprecedented reception crisis in the European Union Member States. As multiple debates and reforms are developing around ideas of better managing “migratory flows” and better fighting against illegal immigration, civil society, NGOs and students seek for solutions to the multiple “border situations” faced by migrants.
The Migration Clinic addresses cutting-edge issues related to the situation of migrants in France through a number of projects. It allows gaining a rich and complex understanding of immigration law through practice. It also aims at developing or consolidating students’ critical thinking in a context in which political, legal and social discourses contribute to the production of an image of migrants as “threats” or as “undesirables”.
The Migration program is taught and coordinated by Christophe Pouly.
Équipe pédagogique 2020-2021
- Christophe Pouly
- Bastien Charaudeau
- Sophie-Anne Bisiaux
- Marine Doisy
- Aimée Kelley
- Magali Loustau-Guadalupe Miranda
PROJETS 2020-2021
Project 1: Transit zones and confinement at the external borders of the Schengen area
The trivialization of border closures is an impediment to freedom of movement. For 30 years, the Anafé has noted and denounced violations of rights and procedures by the French administration. To do this, the association has notably carried out advocacy actions with the authorities for the protection of human rights, litigation as well as active participation in various inter-associative networks (Observatory of the confinement of foreigners, Migreurop...).
The project is a comparative study of several European systems for entry and detention at the external borders of the European Union. The students will have to make an assessment of French legislation and practices based on materials collected by the Anafé and its partners (reports, testimonies, litigation and advocacy) but also on their own experience in French waiting zones (zones d’attente). Depending on the results, this study could be part of a campaign led by the Anafé against detention at the borders and of the advocacy concerning the new European Migration and Asylum Pact. This study could also strengthen the Anafé's network with other European associations. The students will then be able to propose mobilizations and/or ideas of litigation already developed in other countries to be implemented in France
- Partner: ANAFE (National Association of Border Assistance for Foreigners)
- Tutor: Bastien Charaudeau
Project 2: Jurisdictional protection of migrants: between the rule of law and actual practices.
Under the pressure of constitutional and international norms, the legislator has had to multiply jurisdictional procedures in order to guarantee respect for the fundamental rights of foreigners in deportation procedures. Between routine and mass litigation, jurisdictional control gives the impression of being only a cog in the wheel of the removal procedure rather than a guarantee that remains a mere façade. Observation of procedural practices and analysis of corresponding decisions will inform us about the effectiveness of this protection.
- Partner: Clinique de Sciences Po
- Tutor: Magali Loustau-Guadalupe Miranda
Project 3: Impediments to migrants’ mobility on the Balkan route: the case of the Croatian-Slovenian border
Since 2016, migration control mechanisms have been considerably strengthened along the Balkan route. The last step before reaching the Schengen area, the border between Croatia and Slovenia is subject to extensive controls. In April 2020, the Slovenian authorities announced the strengthening and extension of these controls. Croatia, on the other hand, in an effort to prove to the EU that it is ready to join the Schengen area, has redoubled its efforts to prevent crossings to Slovenia, at the cost of significant violations of the rights of migrants.
- Partner: GISTI MIGREUROP
- Tutor: Sophie-Anne Bisiaux et Marine Doisy
Project 4: Asylum and health issues of Georgian nationals
Since 2018, the profile of Georgian asylum seekers has changed and their number has increased sharply: most of them are families with serious pathologies that require urgent care. The government has limited the access to medical assistance and changed the rules of the application procedure for health care. In most cases, the asylum application is quickly rejected, followed by an expulsion decision (OQTF). These families quickly find themselves without papers and without resources while heavy and indispensable treatments have already begun. They turn to associations that no longer know how to help them. It is therefore necessary to investigate the medical care in France and Georgia for people suffering from various pathologies. Why are they not allowed to stay in France based on their state of health? Why can't they receive appropriate treatment in Georgia?
- Partner: Habitat-Cité
- Tutors: Aimée Kelley
Project 5: Accompanying third parties to the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons
The reform of asylum law, adopted in July 2015, introduced new procedural guarantees for asylum seekers, including the possibility of being accompanied by a third party during their interview. In order to make this guarantee available to a greater number of asylum seekers, the GAS and the LGBTQI+ center trains volunteers to prepare and accompany asylum seekers to their interview.
- Partner: roupe Accueil et Solidarité (GAS) et Centre LGBTQI+ Paris IdF
- Tutors: Thibaut Jaulin
