Op-ed in Le Soir: "For a borderless Francophone justice"

In an op-ed published this Wednesday 2 April in the columns of Le Soir, Juliana Amato Lumumba develops exclusively the fifth project of her programme: the Francophone Visa and Universal Justice. A three-page op-ed, signed by the candidate herself, which details for the first time the envisaged operational mechanism.

The starting observation is blunt: 'Francophones in Africa, Asia, America and Europe share a language but are separated by often absurd administrative barriers. A Cameroonian academic can be turned away in Paris, a Senegalese entrepreneur blocked in Montréal, a Vietnamese student prevented in Brussels.'

The candidate proposes a three-tier mechanism: a Francophone student visa with simplified procedure, a professional mobility visa for 5,000 talents per year, and a Convention of mutual recognition of diplomas and qualifications. Three measures that can be negotiated in parallel from 2027.

'Universal Francophone Justice also means a protocol of enhanced judicial cooperation', the candidate adds. 'To better protect Francophone nationals abroad, but also to facilitate cooperation between our judicial systems on transnational crime issues.'

The choice to publish this op-ed in Le Soir is not insignificant: Francophone Belgium, host to many Francophonie institutions, is one of the states most sensitive to the issue of intra-Francophone mobility. The op-ed was picked up the next day by several pan-African and North African media.