PARIS - The French parliament's Legislative Commission yesterday buried the most controversial provision of the proposed Debre Law on immigration, named after the anti-immigration minister of the interior, Jean-Louis Debre, writes Lara Marlowe.
The law would have required French citizens who invite foreigners to their homes to notify their local mayor of the foreigners' arrival and departure. Because they need no visa to enter France, Europeans and Americans were exempted.
This requirement resembled a racist law enacted by the collaborationist Vichy government during second the World War which required Jews to register with local authorities. It provoked a nationwide "appeal for civil disobedience", launched by 59 film-makers last week, which thousands of French citizens from all walks of life have since signed.
Despite the government's retreat on the "lodging certificate" provision, a protest march against the Debre Law is to go ahead in Paris tomorrow. An amendment to the law transfers responsibility for monitoring the visit of foreigners from mayors, who were un-co-operative, to regional prefects. Foreign visitors - not French hosts - will be required to notify the administration of their movements.