Sundiata Post – French parliament has passed a law restraining Nigerian students and others from bringing their families to the country.
The law was backed by both President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Renaissance party and Deputy of the French National Assembly, Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally.
A previous draft was rejected by parliament last week when the National Rally, as well as the left, voted against it.
Following this, the government redrafted the bill, making some of its provisions tougher.
According to a report by the BBC on Thursday, the new toughening immigration policy makes it more difficult for migrants to bring family members to France and delays their access to welfare benefits.
The law also bans detaining minors in detention centers while leaders of a third of French regions said they would not comply with certain measures in it.
A controversial provision discriminates between citizens and migrants, even those living in France legally, in determining eligibility for benefits.
The tougher version appealed to right-wing parties, who backed it on Monday.
Meanwhile, Ms Le Pen welcomed the amended bill, calling it an “ideological victory” for the far-right.
The leader of the right-wing Republican party, Eric Ciotti, said “This is our bill,” calling it “firm and courageous”.
However, left-wingers said Macron was enabling the far-right, with Socialist party leader Olivier Faure saying, “History will remember those who betrayed their convictions.”
Nevertheless, 32 of France’s 101 departments, including Paris, said they would refuse to implement the provisions of the law on benefits for non-citizens.
The French vote came hours before an EU agreement to reform the asylum system across the bloc’s 27 member states.
The new pact, agreed by EU governments and European Parliament members, includes creating border detention centres and enabling the quicker deportation of rejected asylum seekers.
Parliament President Roberta Metsola, who hailed it as a landmark agreement, said the new system allows asylum seekers to be relocated from southern member states, which have the highest numbers of arrivals, to other countries.
Here are some facts about the new law:
It still has to be formally approved by the Parliament and member states.
The new French legislation exposed divisions within the governing alliance.
27 MPs voted against while 32 abstained – almost a quarter of pro-Macron MPs.
