French and Other Selected European Perspectives on Asylum

Abstract

This is a report of a conference, "Les réfugiés en France et en Europe: Quarante ans d'application de la Convention de Genève 1952-1992," which took place on June 11-13 in Paris, organized by the Office francais de protection des réfugiés et apatrides (OFPRA). Any conference held in the international conference centre in Paris, a showcase of the French Foreign Affairs Department, could only be an official one. An alternative gathering convened simultaneously. But since the French readilyagreeto disagree, somedivergent perspectives on their past and present govemment policies and services were courteously voiced at this first ever OFPRA conference-on the rostrum, that is, since the masses were kept silent and their written questions filtered on occasion. A VIP set-up was not foolproof. Some distinguished government officiaIs and guests were forced, along with others, into an overflow room to watch the proceedings on a screen. Like states, the conference had a welcoming staff that did not exercise border control in the early hours of the influx.