E/CN.4/1997/71 page 31 the other, to the development of an underground economy, frequently for the benefit of well-known firms which exploit it with complete impunity, and moonlighting, mostly by French citizens even though the finger is pointed at immigrants. “This acounts for the system of repatriation grants instituted in 1982, which set the tone and was followed, in 1986, by the Act of 9 September on immigration and residence controls over aliens in France and the introduction (by the Minister of the Interior, Charles Pasqua) of large-scale identity checks, thus labelling the entire immigrant population as a potential source of all evils, from unemployment to petty crime or even terrorism. This fuelled a particularly disturbing line of racist and xenophobic thinking. “Then came a series of acts and special provisions targeted at immigrants. “In 1992: the introduction of holding areas in ports and airports; the establishment of a national dossier of aliens in France; in 1993: a series of acts intended to control immigration, amending the conditions applicable to the right of asylum, family reunion and mixed marriages; the 'vigie pirate' plan, i.e. measures introduced to combat terrorist attacks; the five-yearly reform of the judicial system in 1994 and the Security (orientation and programming) Act together with the 1995 reforms to the structure and tasks of the police which made efforts to combat illegal immigration a priority.” 110. The report concludes that: “It is to these measures as a whole and to their consequences that attention should be drawn today, because they lead to acts that undermine respect for human rights ... “Holding areas do not allow people to exercise the remedies to which everyone is entitled, nor do they allow the courts, lawyers and even representatives of UNHCR to operate normally. “The holding centres are places where people are deprived of their liberty and human dignity is not respected. In the case of the 'sans-papiers' it transpired that children were being held, that the rights of the defence were not being respected and that administrative irregularities were becoming increasingly numerous. “The so-called Pasqua Acts have put the foreign parents of children who are or will in all likelihood become French, couples of mixed descent and their children and people denied asylum in an inextricable situation, flatly at odds with a number of international rights which France none the less acknowledges. “The way in which persons at risk in their countries of origin or under judicial supervision, declared not liable to expulsion or under court protection, are expelled goes to show how seriously human rights are being violated in France.