European Court of Justice rules migrants cannot be jailed for illegal entry
The European Court of Justice has banned detention of migrants for illegal entering the Schengen zone.
As BBC Ukraine reports, the Court ruled that the migrants staying illegally should instead be returned to the country from which they came
The ruling was triggered by the case of a Ghanaian migrant Selina Affum who was found to be using false Belgian travel documents by French police at the entrance to the Channel Tunnel.
She was placed in police custody on grounds of illegal entry into French territory but argued that this was unlawful, in light of the EU’s Return Directive. Under the directive, an illegal migrant told to leave has up to 30 days to go voluntarily. After that, a migrant will be forcibly deported.
The French court referred the case to the European Court of Justice, the EU’s highest court.
