In 2011, without reference to any European incentive, the legislature provided for better demarcation of waiting areas that have been created ex nihilo, in particular in the case of the grounding of sea-going ships with numerous persons on board lacking documents for entry into France36. This measure, the basis of which can hardly be questioned, comes in the wake of two episodes of this kind that occurred in France in 2001 and 2010. No applicable cases have occurred since the Act was voted. 2.1.2.2 Waiting areas apart from Roissy The Roissy waiting zone focuses attention, and rightly so, in view of the fact that, as the report devoted to it by the Contrôleur général pointed out37, as far as the placing of foreigners in waiting areas in France is concerned, nine cases out of ten occur in this airport. Nevertheless, there are also waiting areas at the principal crossing points of the French border, for the most part airports as well as a few ports, in metropolitan France and overseas departments and territories. Apart from Roissy, the Contrôleur général has, to date, inspected seventeen of these sites, which have very different activities and, therefore, dimensions. Here we would like to draw some lessons from observations taken from these inspections. 2.1.2.2.1 Foreigner’s Rights and the Effectiveness thereof In the first place, a careful distinction needs to be drawn between those foreigners who, contrary to the provisions of article L.211-1 of the CESEDA, do not have the necessary documents and are therefore “refused entry” to French territory, according to the procedures set out under article L.213-2; and foreigners who, having been refused entry, are placed in waiting areas in accordance with the provisions of chapter 1, title II of book II of the same code, “for the time strictly necessary for their departure and, in the case of asylum-seekers, for an examination aimed at ensuring that their application is not manifestly unfounded” (article L.221-1), according to rules for the deprivation of liberty which – it has to be recalled, since confusion on this point is frequent – are not the same as those provided for the detention of illegal immigrants. The former group, composed of persons to whom entry has been refused, is necessarily larger than the latter, those “held” in waiting areas. Indeed, there are scenarios in which no waiting time is required before those “refused entry” can depart once again, in particular when, after a stopover, the aeroplane which brought them is due to take off from the same airport, returning to the destination of origin. However, it should be noted that the differences between these two groups are of very variable proportions, according to the waiting zone considered. At Orly Airport, for both of the years in which inspections were conducted by the inspectorate, between 90% and 95% of persons “refused entry” were later “held” in the waiting zone. At Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport, the percentage fluctuates between 20 and 25%. In waiting areas where the number of those refused entry is low, hardly any foreigners are “held”. In other words, the greater the number of persons refused entry (presumably, because air – or port – traffic levels are high), the higher the percentage of persons held in waiting areas, and vice-versa. Nevertheless, it is essential to determine whether this procedure for dividing foreigners who are refused entry into two groups, which comes entirely 36 New paragraph of article L. 221-2 of the Code for Entry and Residence of Foreigners and Right of Asylum (code de l’entrée et du séjour des étrangers en France et du droit d’asile). 37 July 2009; the report may be consulted on the www.cglpl.fr website where it has been placed online. 25