Enable detained migrants to freely access their own mobile telephone by informing them of the
restrictions concerning the camera feature and of the penalties should such rules fail to be
followed. Define the "security problems" potentially associated with Internet use in detention
centres for illegal immigrants and authorise this use with restrictions that are strictly in
proportion to the risks that will have been identified.
4.1.3 Activities
The CGLPL had recommended that activities be organised to stave off the sense of boredom that
prevails in detention centres for illegal immigrants
The Minister of the Interior does not believe that it is always possible to provide for such
means owing to the layout of premises or a budget shortfall. He does, however, explain that
associations or staff at the centres can donate board games. "Goodwill" gestures are of course always
a help in that they strengthen the relationship between people deprived of their liberty and society as a
whole. They should not be relied on solely to ensure the basic minimum that is the State's
responsibility, however: minimal activity guaranteed to each migrant is necessary, and this is even
more so if the immigration detention time-limit is going to be extended. This question must therefore
be addressed by a fully-fledged policy and should not be left to local or private initiatives which,
whilst often beneficial, are always optional.
See to the systematic and controlled setup of the necessary amenities for providing migrants held
in detention centres with activities.
4.1.4 Right to health
The CGLPL had recommended installing specific letterboxes for detained migrants to be able to
communicate confidentially with the medical unit of the detention centre for illegal immigrants and
setting up systematic consultations upon migrants' arrival so as to screen for contagious diseases and
provide everyone with the appropriate medical surveillance.
There has been no progress on these subjects since the recommendation. Moreover, the
Minister of the Interior concedes that the interministerial working group formed to develop the health
system in detention centres for illegal immigrants has not convened since 2015. The CGLPL can only
urge the Government to resume efforts in this regard.
Revive the interministerial working group formed to develop the health system in detention
centres for illegal immigrants, particularly the need for direct and confidential contact between
detained migrants and medical teams, the screening for contagious diseases and the need for
personalised medical surveillance.
4.1.5
Rights associated with measures coming to an end
The CGLPL had recommended that the procedure whereby foreigners denied entry at the French
borders are swiftly returned, and particularly the time-limit within which it can take place, be
stipulated in the Code for Entry and Residence of Foreigners and Right of Asylum (CESEDA).
The Minister of the Interior claims that this measure does not come under the purview of the
General Directorate of the French national police force, which cannot be considered a valid answer to
the substance of the CGLPL's recommendation. This recommendation is therefore upheld.
Stipulate in the CESEDA the procedure whereby foreigners denied entry at the French borders
are swiftly returned (without being placed in a waiting area), with indication of the time-limit
within which this can take place.
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