Our “Waiting Zones” Project
Created in 1992, waiting zones are detention areas located in airports, seaports, and international train stations. Individuals—both children and adults—who arrive at external borders and do not meet the entry requirements for France or the European Union, who request entry on asylum grounds, or whose transit is interrupted and are denied entry by border police, may be detained there for up to 26 days. Since the reinstatement of internal border controls in 2015, individuals arriving from within the Schengen Area may also be detained in waiting zones.
In 2023, the Ministry of the Interior recorded 104 waiting zones in mainland France and overseas territories—the largest being at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport. These zones vary in size and structure.
In waiting zones, the rights of individuals are routinely and often systematically violated. These detention areas are largely unknown to civil society due to restricted access, resulting in significant opacity that conceals often dire conditions : unsanitary facilities, no access to the outdoors, lack of windows or means to block light, constant loudspeaker announcements, detention of children, no separation between men and women, or between adults and children, limited access to healthcare, violations of asylum rights, intimidation and verbal or physical abuse by law enforcement, etc.
The consequences of detention in waiting zones are especially severe for vulnerable individuals, including unaccompanied or accompanied minors, pregnant women, asylum seekers, people with health conditions, and victims of trafficking.
Anafé’s project aims to assist individuals deprived of liberty in waiting zones, monitor detention conditions, ensure respect for fundamental rights, and denounce rights violations and illegal administrative practices
To achieve this, the association carries out numerous activities led by volunteers, including : visiting waiting zones, providing legal information and assistance to detainees, observing administrative and judicial hearings, monitoring individuals held in police custody, deported, and/or subjected to violence. The information gathered and practices observed by Anafé’s volunteers support the association’s advocacy efforts—particularly its demands to end administrative detention for all, especially children, to guarantee access to a judge, and to establish free legal aid at borders—through litigation, advocacy, and analysis.
🎧 For an audio immersion into waiting zones, listen to the documentary “Enfermé.es nulle part”, produced by Nau Preiss and Antoine Bougeard in partnership with Anafé.
Anafé statistics in the waiting area
Our “Internal Land Borders” Project
Since October 2015, France has reinstated internal border controls and continues to strengthen them. Border police, riot police (CRS), mobile gendarmes, and military forces under the “Sentinelle” operation have turned land borders into highly surveilled zones. This militarization has led to systematic violations of the fundamental rights of exiled individuals along the borders with Italy and Spain:
- Failure to follow proper procedures (irregular entry refusals or simplified readmissions, lack of information on rights, obstructed access to asylum),
- Irregular handling of unaccompanied foreign minors,
- Targeted and discriminatory checks,
- Deprivation of liberty without legal framework for people arriving from Italy (notably in Menton at Pont Saint-Louis and in Montgenèvre),
- Allegations of violence committed by French law enforcement.
These practices and the increasing militarization of borders force exiled individuals to take increasingly dangerous routes, sometimes risking their lives. At the Franco-Italian and Franco-Spanish borders, Anafé has documented deaths due to hiking accidents, drowning, and electrocution on train roofs…
Anafé had already addressed the consequences of border control reinstatement at the Franco-Italian border in 2011. Since 2015, Anafé has been active alongside local actors and exiled individuals in difficulty at both the lower and upper Franco-Italian border (between Menton and Ventimiglia, in the Roya Valley, the Briançon area, Modane, and the Fréjus tunnel).
In 2019, Anafé expanded its project to the Basque and Catalan Franco-Spanish borders (between Irun and Hendaye, Portbou and Cerbère, La Jonquera and Le Perthus, and in Perpignan). Anafé also monitors the situation at all internal land borders.
The goal of Anafé’s internal land borders project is to end arbitrary and illegal practices against exiled individuals, ensure access to rights and effective legal assistance, and put a stop to unlawful deprivation of liberty in degrading conditions. Through fieldwork and its role as an observatory, Anafé supports its advocacy, litigation, analysis, communication, and awareness-raising efforts.
🎥 For an overview of rights violations at internal land borders, watch the Anafé-Cafi video “For the Respect of Migrants’ Rights at Borders!”
Anafé statistics at internal land borders
For More Information
For more details on Anafé’s methods of action within the “Waiting Zones” and “Internal Land Borders” projects, click here.
Each year, Anafé monitors the situation of several hundred individuals who are either deprived of liberty or facing difficulties at borders.
Border Glossary
What is an external border?
“External borders: the land borders of Member States, including river and lake borders, maritime borders, as well as their airports, river ports, sea ports, and lake ports, provided they are not internal borders.” (Article 2 of the Schengen Borders Code)
What is an internal border?
“Internal borders :
- The common land borders, including river and lake borders, of Member States;
- Airports of Member States for internal flights;
- Sea, river, and lake ports of Member States for regular internal ferry connections.”
(Article 2 of the Schengen Borders Code)
What is a waiting zone?
“The waiting zone extends from the boarding and disembarkation points to those where identity checks are carried out. It is defined by the competent administrative authority. It may include, within or near the premises of the train station, port, or airport, or near the disembarkation point, one or more accommodation facilities providing hotel-type services to the concerned foreigners.” (Article L. 341-6 of the CESEDA)
What is a temporary waiting zone?
“In cases where a group of at least ten foreigners arrives in France outside a border crossing point […] the waiting zone extends, for a maximum duration of twenty-six days, from the location(s) where the individuals were found to the nearest border crossing point.” (Article L. 341-6 of the CESEDA)
