This morning, the Council of State examined, in a precautionary appeal, the request made by various associations (ANAFE, SAF, GISTI, CIMADE)* to suspend the execution of the decree of November 10, 2022 which created the waiting area to welcome passengers of the Ocean Viking. Template ? The inadequacy of the premises for the exercise of the rights and freedoms of persons detained in that area.
What we are judging this morning of November 18 in the Council of State is somewhat a question of the principles of the rule of law with respect to the reality of their exercise. On the one hand, associations for the defense of foreigners and lawyers who contest the organization of the waiting area created to welcome passengers of the SOS Méditerranée Ocean Viking ship in Toulon. On the other, Charles-Édouard Minet, deputy director of legal advice and litigation at the Ministry of the Interior, who assures that everything has been planned in particular to allow the defenders of foreigners to fulfill their mission. And in the middle the judge Courrèges, summoned for summary proceedings for the annulment of the order of the administrative court of Toulon having rejected the request for suspension of the decree that established this area for a serious and manifestly illegitimate violation of the rights of asylum seekers disembarked from the Ocean Viking justifying the urgent intervention of the administrative judge.
A changing situation
The matter is all the more complex as circumstances change from hour to hour. When the debates opened at 10.30, the numbers were roughly as follows: the SOS Méditerranée ship rescued 234 people of various nationalities, who disembarked on 11 November at the Hyères holiday center after 21 days at sea. procedures, the dispute concerns only the fate of the 189 adults; among these, OFPRA responded favorably to 66 asylum applications and rejected the other 123. The Var prefect appealed to the judge of freedoms and detention (JLD) to obtain retention in the area of the people who gave rise to negative opinion. His request has already been rejected in 96 cases due to deadlines. The Aix Court of Appeal has already confirmed several decisions. Gradually, people are then released and directed towards accommodation facilities. There were still 80 of them in the waiting room this morning, knowing that their number would have to decrease over the hours depending on the outcome of the appeals. The situation is complicated by the fact that the free people have returned to the waiting area because they have not found accommodation.
When questioned by the judge in private, the applicants explained that they contested the impossibility for the detainees to effectively exercise their rights: lack of premises dedicated to exchanges with associations and lawyers, absence of means of communication, lack of information for migrants… The Interior Ministry defended itself step by step, assuring that if all means were available, proof of this is that the president of the bar association went to the scene with elected officials and journalists without making any comments. He even allowed himself the luxury of making fun of the apparent contradictions of the appellants: “Tell us exactly what you’re reproaching us for, you said there weren’t any clubs, now we know there are two, then you ask us for the computers! “.
No dedicated premises or means of communication
Unfortunately for him, Charles-Édouard Minet contented himself with giving the judge the information he was given, while the president of ANAFE, Laure Palun, has just arrived from the Toulon waiting room to attend the hearing. And we discover listening to him that the complaints of the appellants concern not a few regulatory details that have not been respected, but a practical impossibility for associations such as that of lawyers to work. There are no posters in the area informing people about their rights and giving them contacts for associations and lawyers. It is therefore impossible for them to ask to speak to a lawyer. The telephone network due to the number of people on site is saturated most of the time. The WIFI is that of the Red Cross, it only works in the courtyard, therefore out of the context of confidentiality. Similarly, the Red Cross has made 8 telephones available, but they are dedicated to outgoing calls to families. Associations do not have access to these phones. They don’t even have the list of people staying in the waiting area despite multiple requests.
As for the lawyers, they are no better off. They also denounce the lack of reserved spaces to talk to their clients, the lack of equipment to communicate with the outside world or to do research, especially on geopolitical issues… However, one of them recalls, they had to prepare the OFPRA interviews for 189 people, at the same time as hearings before the JLD, with little or no means. “Today, he underlines, the administrative court of Toulon is invested with dozens of appeals for refoulement, all of these appeals are summary briefs just filed to interrupt a peremptory deadline. But the court will give us a date shortly and we will have to make further observations there, as I do in the waiting room? “.
The outstanding waiting areas in question
Tired of war, the representative of the Interior admits that he did it “maybe failed to install a sign”. Me Patrick Spinosi, representing ANAFE, summarizes the challenge of the appeal “All the difficulties originate in the creation of this exceptional emergency zone. The decision you will issue will be the first on exceptional waiting areas, there is an obvious risk that this situation will repeat itself, obviously the problem is what is happening today, but the ordinance you will issue will define a reading grid on what the administration may or may not do”.
After more than an hour and a half of debate, President Courrèges fixed the closure at 5pm and she herself asked for an updated list of people still in the waiting room. The decision should be made quickly enough.
*ANAFE: National Association of Foreign Border Assistance
SAF: French Bar Association
GISTI: Information and support group for immigrants
CIMADE: Inter-movement committee for displaced persons
