Decisions for admission in accommodation places for asylum seekers, as well as for exit from or modification of the place of residence, are taken by OFII after consultation with the Director of the place of accommodation. The specific situation of the asylum seeker must be taken into account. Asylum seekers accommodated in these facilities receive an address certificate attestation de domiciliation.
It allows the asylum seeker to open a bank account and to receive mail. According to the national reception scheme principle, an asylum seeker who has registered their claim in a specific Prefecture might not necessarily be accommodated in the same region.
The asylum seeker has to present themselves to the accommodation place proposed or the region assigned by OFII within 5 days. If not, the offer is considered to be refused and the asylum seeker will not be entitled to any further material reception conditions.
These centres fall under French social initiatives action sociale and are funded by the State. Their financial management is entrusted to the Prefect. In , the number of asylum seekers accommodated remained far below the number of persons registering an application. However, it should be noted that this graph present first-time applicants during the year, to which must also be added those with ongoing proceedings having applied in years prior.
It shows that a substantial number of applicants were left out of accommodation every year. These persisting issues raise questions of compliance with the Reception Conditions Directive as reception conditions should ensure an adequate standard of living for applicants. The decrease of first-time applicants in is largely due to the impact of COVID and further does not reflect the fact that reception capacity was still very much lacking, given that many other asylum seekers were already present on the territory.
