France to expel 35,000 illegal migrants

PARIS - French Interior Minister Claude Gueant unveiled on Tuesday a government plan aimed at sending home 35,000 illegal migrants this year.

"In 2011, 32,922 illegal migrants were expelled or 5,000 more people from an initial target of 28,000 migrants. It's the most high figure never reached," the minister said.

"Concerning 2012 target, the figure will be higher (from last year) at 35,000 expulsions," he added.

As to legal migration, Gueant planned to cut the quota by 10 percent per year to 180,000 migrants "to return to the level of migration recorded in the mid-90, at 150,000 before losing the control of migration policy."

According to figures provided by the High Council for Integration (HCI), 11.5 million immigrants or children of immigrants live in France, representing 19 percent of the country's 65 million population and nearly 180,000 people arrive in France each year.

Many Africans try to reach Europe via Italy, Spain or Malta, the three countries most migrants see as their preferred entry point into Europe. They set sail in small and rickety boasts seeking for better life but unfortunately, many lost their lives in the sea before reaching the lands of dreams.