France's new interior minister vows immigration curbs in rightward shift

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00:00To maintain the firm stance he has promised himself on immigration, the new French Interior

00:05Minister Bruno Retailleau says he is ready to use all the means at his disposal.

00:10His main project, toughening the application of expulsion orders.

00:14According to governmental data, the Paris region, the north and south-east of France

00:19account for more than half of all expulsion orders.

00:22To encourage deportations, the ministry wants to increase the number of foreigners placed

00:26in administrative detention centres.

00:29An additional 1,300 beds are planned, but the unions point to a first problem, staff

00:34shortages.

00:35Before opening new centres, we need to increase the number of staff in existing administrative

00:42detention centres.

00:44We currently need several hundred people to keep the existing ones afloat.

00:51Another difficulty is the complexity of the deportation procedures.

00:55In five years, the number of expulsion orders served has surged, resulting in a 60 percent

01:00increase.

01:01Flooded with appeals, the courts take months, even years, to reach a decision.

01:06And the final obstacle is diplomatic.

01:08For the past several years, France has had to deal with the refusal of certain countries

01:12such as Algeria to accept the return of their expelled nationals.

01:15The French Minister of the Interior intends to toughen his stance.

01:20We could see a change in our relationships.

01:22For example, an impact on the amount of aid given by France to Algeria, or a visa freeze

01:27of Algerian representatives.

01:28Algeria would have the means to retaliate, but so would France.

01:32The new French interior minister also hopes to bring changes to European immigration legislation.

01:37To achieve this, he is counting on the support of several European countries such as Germany,

01:42who have recently tightened their migration policies.

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