In a decision that has drawn sharp criticism from advocacy groups, French authorities detained a 29-year-old man who claimed to be Syrian at an administrative detention center (CRA) in Rennes, Brittany on August 17. According to the prefect of Eure, a department in Normandy in northwestern France, the liberty and custody judge extended his detention by 28 days on August 19. To date he has not applied for asylum in France.

However, it's worth noting that France does not deport individuals to Bashar al-Assad's Syria. The French government officially severed all diplomatic ties with the Syrian authorities in 2012. Lucie David of La Cimade, an association providing administrative assistance to foreigners, said that the detention is illegal because because "in order to place someone in a CRA, there must be the prospect of sending them back to their country in the near future. And we know very well no flights exist between Paris and Damascus."

Last year, France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin told BFM-TV that "There are people who cannot be expelled, people from Syria or Afghanistan."

The Eure department defended the detention, saying it was necessary to verify the individual's identity, despite the provision of a Syrian identity card, according to La Cimade. "At this stage, he claims to be of Syrian nationality. This is being verified," said the authorities. To facilitate this process, the prefecture reached out to the Syrian embassy in France, as reported by La Cimade. In discussions with InfoMigrants, the authorities did not deny this claim.

'Inconsistency' on the part of the authorities

For advocacy groups, this approach raises two questions. First, they question the "inconsistency" between the French government's public stance of having no relations with Bashar al-Assad's regime and its effort to contact Syrian consular authorities, as stated by Hélène Decq of La Cimade. Second, sharing information with the Syrian embassy about an individual in exile abroad poses risks to their safety and that of their family back home.

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Decq criticized the authorities for being solely interested in "statistics." The aim is to lock people up at all costs, and the policy serves no purpose but to communicate the number of people held in detention, said the activist.

This is not the first time associations have denounced the detention of Syrian nationals in CRAs with the intention of deportation. The police departments in Paris and Haute-Garonne (southern France) went even further in October 2022, requesting passes to enable the deportation of two people claiming to be Syrians. Cimade and Amnesty International denounced the procedure as "illegal," as it violates international law to send people back to a country where they risk torture and ill-treatment.

Read more: Asylum seekers released from Ain Zara detention center in Libya after 18-month detainment

Human rights violations

More than 10 years since the beginning of the revolution in Syria, the regime still threatens all of its opponents with relentless repression, and insecurity reigns across the country. At least 3,825 people died due to the violence in Syria in 2022, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Amnesty International's September 2021 report, titled "You're going to your death" documented human rights violations committed by Syrian intelligence agents against 66 returnees, including 13 children. These violations included five cases of detainees dying in custody after returning to Syria and 17 disappearances. Cases of torture and rape were also reported.

Read more: France deports four Afghans to Bulgaria, lawyers fear return to Afghanistan

Meanwhile the detained young Syrian says his incarceration has taken its toll, according to La Cimade. Non-governmental organizations have repeatedly denounced living conditions in the CRAs, comparing the centers to prisons. "We can clearly see the impact of detention on the mental health of detainees: even those who had no problems before their stay in the CRA develop forms of anxiety, stress and mental disorders," said David.

Another man claiming to be Syrian was also placed in detention last week. He was released two days later by a judge on procedural grounds. Prior to this, citizens from Sudan and Afghanistan have also been held in these facilities. Both are countries to which deportations are also impossible.

Read more: Deporting more migrants is not the answer, says rights group