French solidarity
FRANCE – IMMIGRATION/SOLIDARITY: French President Nicolas Sarkozy has made the demand that a fixed quota of 5,500 people be arrested by 2011 for helping illegal immigrants in France. Article L662-1 of the ‘Code for the entry and residence of alien citizens in France’ allows the state to arrest pretty much anyone deemed a ‘helper’ to immigrants; the definition ranging from human smugglers to people who out of solidarity and humanity would give temporary roof, a meal or spare clothes to a migrant in need, or as in the case of a soup kitchen organizer, recharge an immigrant’s cellphone battery.
As a response, thousands of people gathered in the center of Paris and in other French cities, offering themselves up for arrest on the charge of the crime of solidarity – so that Sarkozy might meet his demand two years ahead of schedule.
