Helping undocumented immigrants: crime or solidarity?

Acts of solidarity, a violation of the law? Rumors are circulating that anyone who helps an illegal alien faces a prison sentence. Is this credible? The question is of great interest for Belgian citizens – as for all European citizens – because it is a question of knowing whether our migration policies are so repressive that they lead to the criminalization of aid. to undocumented immigrants.

2010_cjp_etude_aider_les_sans_papier_h130.jpgTheme : Social justice Author : France Malchair Number of pages: 36 p. Editor: Justice and Peace Commission Year : 2010 Price: Downloadable for free – Paper version for €5 Description The expression “solidarity offense” could shock a jurist since there is no such offense in law. And yet, if we are to believe the authors of this provocative concept, solidarity would indeed be on the verge of becoming a crime, even if no legal text criminalizes it as such. In fact, this new concept was born from the protest of a certain segment of French society in the face of the increasingly numerous arrests and even convictions of citizens coming to the aid of foreigners in an illegal situation. The present study therefore aims to understand the origin of the provocative concept that is the “solidarity crime”, to identify its meaning as well as its impact on society. And since the subject of this study goes far beyond national borders – due to the international nature of the migratory phenomenon – we will also be interested in the situation of another European state: France. A comparative analysis between our country and this neighboring country allows an important contribution, to the extent that the experiences of citizens there can be totally different. Contents

Migrants, a category of vulnerable individuals

**The scale of the migratory phenomenon

  1. Issues within immigration countries
  2. The institutional evolution of a common European action

**The vulnerability of illegal migrants

  1. Vulnerability indices
  2. The concrete problems encountered by illegal migrants
  3. The call for solidarity

The legal origin of the “crime of solidarity”

**The offense of aiding illegal entry, transit and stay

**From smugglers to “helpers”, the malleability of texts

  1. The ambiguity of the incriminated facts
  2. The intention of the author of the aid: a crucial element
  3. Taking into account the risks of “crime of solidarity” in the texts

**An exemption clause as a solution to the “crime of solidarity”?

  1. The “humanitarian” clause of European instruments
  2. The restrictive conditions of the French “humanitarian” clause
  3. The Belgian “humanitarian” clause, a model

**Within Europe, very different national situations

The “crime of solidarity”, myth or reality?

**When practice reveals the flaws

  1. The situation in France worries united citizens
  2. The situation in Belgium, less worrying and yet

**The impact of the “crime of solidarity” beyond the examples

**The “crime of solidarity”, the result of a desired ambiguity?

  1. The search for efficiency at all costs
  2. The “draw of air” theory
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