Poverty and inequality were made worse by the Covid-19 epidemic, even with government efforts to lessen its economic effects. Police used biased identity checks to target young people of color. Authorities in charge of child protection frequently neglected to give unaccompanied migrant children the proper attention and assistance. Inhumane living conditions and police brutality were commonplace for migrants and asylum seekers. The threat of racist violence persisted. People with impairments experienced prejudice. Rule of law issues are raised by the forced dissolution of a prominent anti-discrimination group and the growing use of expedited processes in the legislative process.
Poverty And Inequality
Despite government support and safeguards, the National Council for Poverty and Social Exclusion Policies and the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies claim that the Covid-19 crisis made the lives of the poorest citizens even more vulnerable. In addition to making more individuals experience food insecurity and seek food assistance, the pandemic made domestic violence worse. Government statistics showed that those living in poverty had lower immunization rates. Even if vaccination is universal, there are still a lot of barriers that the most disadvantaged communities must overcome, such as traveling great distances to reach healthcare facilities or not having enough knowledge.
Migrants and Asylum Seekers
Adults and children residing in makeshift camps in Paris and the surrounding areas of Calais, northern France, faced recurrent mass evictions, intimidation by law enforcement, and limitations on humanitarian aid during the whole year. The living conditions and human rights abuses experienced by migrants in northern France who want to continue their journey to the UK were condemned in February by the French National Consultative Commission for Human Rights (CNCDH). Between 2020 and 2021, the number of irregular boat crossings in the Channel more than quadrupled. A UK plan to force boats back was challenged by France as being against maritime law and the duty to protect marine life. At the French-Italian border, migrants including unaccompanied minors were forcibly removed by French border police.
Law Enforcement And Police Abuse
Human Rights Watch was one of six civil society organizations that brought an extraordinary complaint against the police for widespread racial discrimination, namely unlawful ethnic profiling during identity checks, before the Council of State. Police violence on journalists covering protests have been cautioned against by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Similarly, despite France’s strong legislative framework to safeguard media plurality and independence, the European Commission condemned attacks on journalists and media workers, both by demonstrators and police, in its July report on the rule of law. A “global security law” had many clauses that the Constitutional Council ruled unlawful, including one that would have made it illegal to distribute pictures of law enforcement officials performing their responsibilities.
Failure to Tackle Climate Crisis
The basic right to live in a healthy environment was reaffirmed by the Council of State.
The government was fined EUR 20 million by the Council of State for two six-month periods, from July 2021 to July 2022, during which it did not fulfill its legal obligation to adhere to European standards for air quality. Environmental advocacy groups were to be reimbursed for the fines. The state has not implemented sufficient air quality improvement measures by year’s end to guarantee that pollution objectives were reached “in the shortest time possible.” Amnesty International France and the cities of Paris, New York, and Poitiers joined an ongoing civil society coalition lawsuit against TotalEnergies in 2017. The company’s inability to comply with the Paris Agreement’s goals and to do substantial due diligence in relation to the climate problem, as mandated by the French Duty of Vigilance statute, served as the basis for the case.
Disability Rights
Concerns regarding discrimination, the low level of accessibility in public services and facilities, the denial of legal capacity and unsupported decision-making, the denial of liberty due to a disability, the large number of disabled children attending segregated schools, and obstacles to accessing justice were raised by the UN Committee on the Rights of People with Disabilities. It also denounced cruel and inhumane treatment practices, such as forced psychiatric therapy, solitary incarceration, isolation, and the use of chemical and physical restrictions, particularly on minors, as well as sexual assault, violence, and humiliation in residential and mental health facilities.
The committee also observed that there was no reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic’s disproportionate effects on people with disabilities that was disability-inclusive. It demanded, among other things, that the government provide safe and independent living in the community, start the process of emergency deinstitutionalization, and actively involve individuals with disabilities and the groups that advocate for them in decision-making processes.
The Bottom Line
In conclusion, France persisted in refusing to return its citizens, including adults and minors, who had been arbitrarily imprisoned in prisons and camps in northeastern Syria. France backed EU sanctions against Russia, denounced the imprisonment of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and threatened to hold President Putin and Russian authorities accountable and impose more penalties in the event that Navalny passed away.