A nationwide crackdown ordered by France’s Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau on June 18 and 19 led to the arrest of 691 undocumented migrants, the interior ministry told InfoMigrants.

Over the course of 48 hours, "4,000 police officers, gendarmes, customs officers and soldiers" were deployed to arrest undocumented migrants, said the minister on the French television channel CNews.

Major train stations and bus stations were targeted in the operation. "You will prioritize inspections on trains coming from neighboring countries and France’s major transport hubs, both at arrivals and departures, in all the train stations. Regional trains, particularly in border areas, can also be inspected after the relevant regional authorities are informed," wrote Retailleau in his note to the prefects. 

Hundreds of people released 

Over two days, 844 train stations and 1,273 trains were inspected, according to the interior ministry.

 Among the 691 migrants stopped between June 18 and 19, “a hundred” people were “taken back” to the border, said Bruno Retailleau’s team. These foreigners were detained in train stations, trains, or buses a few kilometers away from the French border and expelled from France.

Readmission agreements with Italy and Spain allow French authorities to return migrants to these countries hours after their arrival in France.

The practice, which has been condemned by associations for years, was ruled illegal by France’s Conseil d’ État in February 2024. The governmental body based its decision on an earlier ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The highest court had earlier struck down an article of the French Code of Foreigners (CESEDA) that didn’t conform to European law and allowed law enforcement to refuse entry to foreigners arriving at the French borders in an irregular situation, without giving them the opportunity to apply for asylum.

Read AlsoEuropean Court of Justice rules systematic pushbacks are illegal

Following last week's crackdown, some thirty people were also placed in administrative detention centers (CRA) pending deportation.

The others were released. Some 200 migrants were also issued an Order to Leave French Territory (OQTF), and some were placed under house arrest. People handed OQTF orders are not systematically detained, but rather given 30 days to leave French territory on their own.

 Thus, of the 691 migrants arrested, more than 500 were released.

'A xenophobic operation'

Several unions, as well as the MRAP (Movement Against Racism and for Friendship Between Peoples), have denounced "a xenophobic operation scapegoating the most vulnerable of the vulnerable."

These operations "resemble 'roundups’", they said in their press release, condemning a "nauseating escalation targeting workers who will go to work today and tomorrow with a little more fear than usual."

Many associations had also advised people in an irregular situation not to go out during these two days to avoid being arrested.

"It's over. The roundup campaign led by the Ministry of the Interior has ended. Millions of euros of public money will have been spent to spread fear and support a self-promotion campaign", said the association Utopia 56 on X.