Indians aboard grounded charter flight return to Mumbai

  • December 27, 2023
  • Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
  • Category: DPN Topics
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Indians aboard grounded charter flight return to Mumbai

Subject: IR

Section: Places in news

Context: Twenty-five passengers on the flight to Nicaragua were grounded over a human trafficking probe, and have chosen to request asylum in France.

Details: 

  • The passengers were heading to Nicaragua but their flight was stopped at the Varty airport (France)  for refuelling on its journey from Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates to Managua, Nicaragua.
  • Twenty-five passengers did not return to India, requesting asylum in France. They were transferred to a special zone in Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport for asylum-seekers.

New law: A new, tougher law on immigration was recently cleared by the French parliament.

Benefits offered by France to asylum-seekers:

  • Generous system: France had a generous system for asylum-seekers providing them up to 300 euros a month.
  • Housing: Can  apply for housing in the hundreds of asylum-seeker housing projects across the country
  • Cheap meals: Cheap meals are often easily available at food banks.
  • Health: They gets free health insurance while their application is being reviewed
  • Social security: Foreign residents get social security benefits, which include assistance in paying rent, childcare, etc.

Key changes in the new law:

Key changesInference
Longer wait for non-EU migrants to get welfare:People not from European Union countries will have to show they have been in the country for 30 months to receive social welfare benefits.

Those not working will have to wait five years.

Review of medical care access:The government will review current legislation that provides illegal residents unlimited access to government-funded medical care, reported Reuters.
Asylum-seekers can be detained:Asylum seekers whose behaviour constitutes a threat to public order can be placed in preventive detention
Tougher citizenship rules: Children of foreigners born in France will no longer get French citizenship automatically
Students have to make a deposit:Foreign students requesting a student residency permit will have to make a refundable deposit to cover potential “sending back” costs , unless they have financial needs or excellent academic results.

UN Convention for Asylum Seekers:

  • Article 14: Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 recognizes the right of persons to seek asylum from persecution in other countries.

1951 Refugee Convention and 1967 Protocol:

  • Principal of Non Refoulement: The foundational principle of international law is non-refoulement, which holds that a refugee must not be returned to a country where they would suffer severe threats to their life or freedom.
  • Adoption: The United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees was adopted in 1951, and is the centerpiece of international refugee protection today.
  • India perspective: India is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, the key legal documents pertaining to refugee protection.

Places in news:

  • Varty Airport- France
  • Fujairah – United Arab Emirates
  • Managua– Nicaragua.

Source: Indian Express

Indians aboard grounded charter flight return to Mumbai IR