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Local France
19-05-2025
- Health
- Local France
Explained: The sickness and disability benefits that foreigners in France are eligible for
Anyone who has been legally resident in France for more than three months is entitled to sign up for French national health coverage and get a carte vitale (although it usually takes several months after applying to actually get the precious card). Being officially registered in the French public health system means you can be reimbursed for medical appointments and medication - but it also means that you can benefit from sick pay if you need time off work or, if your condition means you cannot work, disability benefits. However, not all foreigners are France are eligible for the basic disability benefit, the Allocation aux Adultes Handicapés (AAH). Here's how the system works; Ill-health If you are sick or have an accident and need to miss work or school, you will need a doctor's note. Advertisement We've covered the topic, including the admin bits you need to do, in detail here – but, basically, statutory sick pay in France varies depending on how long you're off work, and on company policy … which in turn will most likely be based on a collective agreement of some kind. In most cases the doctor's note ( arrêt de maladie) , will just be for a few days until you get better and can start working again, however they can be issued for an extended duration if the condition is serious. Self-employed people can also claim sick pay. There is no nationality constraint here, sick pay is open to all foreigners who are working in France and are registered in the French public health system. But if an illness or accident leaves you with a disability that means you cannot work - or limits the work you can do - then you enter the world of the AAH. Allocation aux Adultes Handicapés In order to access AAH, you must be resident in France, registered in the health system and also either: French, or; an EU citizen or family member (spouse/child) of an EU citizen, or; [for non-EU citizens] hold a valid residency permit, or receipt of application for renewal of a residency permit. Access to Allocation aux Adultes Handicapés is open to employed, self-employed, or unemployed people in France. In this case 'unemployed' means registered with France Travail (previously Pôle emploi) and looking for work - since you cannot register with France Travail unless you have worked for at least six months out of the previous 24 in France, this effectively excludes recent arrivals. People who have never worked in France are in most cases not eligible for AAH, although they may be eligible for other illness or disability-related benefits (see below). Advertisement In most cases, you should be 20 years of age or older, though AAH may be considered for anyone from the age of 16 if they are not considered a dependent in relation to calculations for family benefits. How much is it and how is it allocated? Enter the Commission des Droits et de l'Autonomie des Personnes Handicapées (Cdaph). This is the body that is responsible for decisions regarding the rights and benefits that may be granted to disabled people, based on the scale of their disability. AAH is allocated based on both your level of disability and your other financial means, although its important to note that this is based on income (eg any work that you are able to do plus income from a pension or work accident payment). You are not expected to use up your savings. The Cdaph also sets the initial term period for the receipt of AAH benefits – usually somewhere between one and 10 years – and any renewal periods. Under certain conditions, it can grant AAH without a time limit. If you're a single person who lives alone and you have income - from work, a pension or any other means - of more than €1,033.32 per month, you will likely not qualify for AAH. Advertisement That income figure, rises based on the number of dependents you have and is also regularly revised in line with inflation - find the full details here . In general terms AAH is payable until retirement age, unless your condition is particularly severe, in which case it can be extended beyond retirement age as a pension supplement. Once you reach retirement age, you would normally switch to a pension. It is recommended that anyone in receipt of AAH submits a renewal request to their local Maison Départementale des Personnes Handicapées (MDPH) six months before the end of their payment period. To do this, make an appointment with the doctor responsible for issuing the medical certificate and complete the MDPH application form . How to file for disability benefits You can request an application form for the AAH from your local Caisse d'Allocations Familiales (CAF) office, or Maison Départementale des Personnes Handicapées (MDPH) . Your doctor should also be able to point you in the right direction to make the initial claim. Advertisement The MDPH will also be able to help with additional help, such as arranging care services and home adaptations, and applying for the grants that you may be eligible for. Home adaptation MaPrimeAdapt' – open to elderly people or anyone with a disability – can help with 50 to 70 percent of the cost of interior and exterior home renovation work that is necessary to accommodate your needs. For example, one might use it to help replace a bathtub with a walk-in shower, widen doors to make them wheelchair-friendly, or install an electric stairlift. The property concerned must be your primary residence, but if you rent your home, you must have your landlord's permission to carry out works. READ ALSO: French property grants you might be eligible for You must also pay income taxes in France, and your household income must be considered 'modest' or 'very modest'. And finally, you or a member of your household must either be: Older than 70 years old; Between 60 and 69 years old with a disability status (anyone with a GIR number 1-6); Considered to be more than 50 percent disabled or benefiting from the Disability Compensation Benefit ( la prestation de compensation du handicap , PCH). If you are not sure whether you may qualify, you can test your eligibility using this government assistance simulator. Advertisement Care homes What if you're too ill to live in your own home anymore? Provided you are legally resident in France, costs of medical care are covered by Assurance maladie, leaving you with only the accommodation and dependency costs. There are a range of means-tested benefits available to cover these costs, but not all are available to people who have never worked in France – although if you receive a state pension from your home country, you may be entitled to financial support from them as well. READ ALSO Benefits, grants and housing: What are foreigners in France eligible for? To qualify for these you will obviously need to show financial information and people with substantial savings are unlikely to benefit. However, an important point is that the value of your home is not included in the means test, so you will not be expected to sell your home to cover care costs. Be aware, however, that certain benefits that cover care costs are not available to non-EU citizens who have never worked in France. But Britons who moved to France before December 31st 2020 – and are therefore covered by the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement – are treated in this regard in the same way as EU citizens. You can prove this using the Withdrawal Agreement carte de séjour . A lot of useful information on care for older people in France is available on a dedicated government website here , which explains the different benefits and payments available, along with the rights and responsibilities of older people and their families, and can help you identify the care you need, or find nearby residences.
New York Post
14-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
US property developer claims Iraqi president ordered her kidnap and 43 day torture with beatings and electric cords: lawsuit
When her Iraqi captors told Sara Saleem that they were digging her grave outside her prison cell, the real estate developer and engineer began plotting her escape, eventually using a metal spoon to pry off a window frame and fleeing down a drain pipe to safety. Saleem, 47, a US citizen of Kurdish ethnicity, claims she was kidnapped, tortured and held for ransom for more than a month at a prison near Basra in a story with all the twists and turns of a Hollywood thriller. After trying for years to seek justice over her treatment in Iraq, the mother of three is now suing a host of Iraqi government officials as well as terrorist groups Hezbollah and Asa'ib Ahl al-Haqq (AAH) in US federal court for $2 billion. 8 Sara Saleem in hospital after her kidnapping and alleged torture ordeal in Iraq. Courtesy of Sara Saleem Advertisement 8 Saleem pictured after she was nursed back to health. She is now suing Iraq's country's chief judge in US federal court seeking $2bn in damages Courtesy of Sara Saleem An amended complaint was filed earlier this year in US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, where Saleem lives with her family. Among the defendants in the case is Iraq's chief justice, Faiq Zidan, and former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who Saleem accuses of plotting her kidnap and then covering up the crime. Advertisement 'He [Zidan] acts with full impunity and is used to getting what he wants,' said Saleem in a Zoom interview with The Post last week from an undisclosed location in the Middle East. 'The corruption in Iraq is unlike corruption in any other nation.' Saleem was kidnapped in Basra, a port city in the country's southeast, after meeting with government officials about one of her construction projects on September 8, 2014, court papers say. She said she was overwhelmed by a group of men who surrounded her as she tried to drive away in her own car. The men allegedly arrived in vehicles bearing the insignia of al-Maliki, who was at the Prime Minister at that time, according to the lawsuit. 8 Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, pictured in 2011 during an interview. Saleem accuses him of being behind her kidnap in her lawsuit. AP Advertisement 8 Faiq Zidan is the head of Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council, and a defendant in a law suit in Virginia that alleges he was part of kidnapping a US citizen. REUTERS Her assailants pulled her out of the vehicle and when she resisted 'they smashed her face with a pistol and tased her,' court papers say. 'Once she was restrained, they shoved her into one of their cars and sped away.' What followed was 43 days of torture involving sleep and food deprivation and blows with electric cords as her kidnappers demanded to know where she had stashed a $100 million loan she had taken out to fund the Safat Basra housing project, a 2,500 residential units develpment near Basra, according to court papers. Shortly before the alleged abduction, Saleem had been getting frequent calls demanding she donate $2 million to fund the Al-Maliki political machine, according to the lawsuit. In the suit she claims she believes her former business partners, who are also named as defendants, leaked information about her whereabouts and were in on the alleged kidnap plot. Advertisement 'They began by threatening to dismember her if she did not explain the location of her hidden money or admit to spying for the CIA or Mossad,' court papers allege, adding she lost 30 pounds during her confinement. 'They cursed me and said many vulgar things about the Kurds,' Saleem told The Post. Kurds are a minority in Iraq making up between 15 and 20 percent of the population. 'They want to make genocide against us,' she claimed, referring to ongoing struggles with the Shia Muslim majority. 8 Sara Saleem with her eldest son Shad. She is determined to seek justice in the US after her alleged kidnapping and incarceration in Iraq. Courtesy of Sara Saleem 8 Sara Saleem alleges that members of the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah were behind her kidnapping and torture in Iraq in 2014. AFP via Getty Images 'I was targeted for my ethnicity and the fact that I am a woman in a region where women are treated as second class citizens,' she said. After her escape, she sought the protection of Iraq's then-President, Fuad Masum, a fellow Kurd. Militants responded by firing rockets at the presidential palace, according to court documents. When she returned to the US three weeks after her ordeal, she was met at the airport by FBI agents who spent nearly two weeks debriefing her and collecting evidence, who said they had intelligence al-Maliki was involved in her kidnapping, according to Saleem. Advertisement 8 Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein was toppled after a US invasion in March 2003. He was found in hiding in December taht year, and died by hanging three years later after being convicted of crimes against humanity by the country's Special Tribunal. AFP/Getty Images 'They also left her with a stark warning: if she returned to Iraq, the forces lined up against her would use the Iraqi legal system against her to throw her in prison, seize her assets and pilfer her business,' court papers say. Nevertheless she returned three years later to continue working on her construction project and was served with an arrest warrant based on what she claimed were trumped up charges relating to a business loan. She managed to get the charges dropped but 'defendants continue to manipulate the Iraqi judicial system against her' with the help of Zidan, the court papers allege. Advertisement A recent study conducted by the London School of Economics' Middle East Center confirmed the judicial corruption in Iraq which it maintained 'poses a risk to the rule of law' in the country and serves the interests of the Shia political elite. 8 Sara Saleem poses in London with Bob Amsterdam, a member of her legal team. Courtesy of Sara Saleem 'Following the fall of Saddam Hussein, the judiciary has become progressively insulated from criticism, with power concentrated within the Supreme Judicial Council,' the February report said. 'The consolidation has allowed the judiciary to expand its role beyond impartial justice administration, engaging more actively in political processes and increasing its susceptibility to political influence.' Advertisement Saleem's case was brought under the federal Anti-Terrorism Act and the Torture Victim Protection Act, which allows victims of torture to bring civil lawsuits against individuals who have committed torture, acting under the authority of a foreign state. If she prevails, she is hoping the Iraqi government will pay her $2 billion settlement. 'I have faith in the US justice system,' Saleem said, adding that her lawyers have also written a letter to President Trump, asking him to intervene in the case. 'In the US there is rule of law and I believe that the perpetrators will be held accountable.' Officials at the Iraqi Embassy in Washington DC did not return a request for comment.
Local France
16-04-2025
- Business
- Local France
France rolls out simplified process for claiming benefits
If you are entitled to certain benefits in France, you may recently have received an email from the government informing you of changes in how you claim them following a six-month trial in the Alpes-Maritimes, Aube, Hérault, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, and Vendée départements. Anyone who receives the revenu de solidarité active (RSA – a top-up payment for residents who have little to no income) or the prime d'activité will find the system for making claims is now simplified. In the coming months, benefits from the Mutualité sociale agricole (MSA) are also expected to be included, according to Actu France. Previously, applicants had to file a self-completed declaration of their income every month to prove their eligibility. From May 1st the declaration will arrive in your email inbox pre-filled. READ MORE: Benefits, grants and housing: What are foreigners in France eligible for? 'From now on, the CAF will provide you with a pre-filled declaration by collecting your income details 'at source' from employers or the organisations that pay replacement income (daily allowances, unemployment benefits, etc.),' the Employment Ministry tells recipients in the email. Advertisement Online declarations will be pre-filled with some of your income (such as salaries, bonuses, daily Social Security benefits, unemployment benefits, disability or retirement pensions). All recipients have to do is check the figures are correct and click to confirm – after adding any income not included (alimony payments for example). If you file your return on paper, your declaration will be compared to information known to the CAF and modified in the event of an error. Be aware, however, that income for the first three months of the year will still have to be declared in the previous manner, as the old and new systems integrate. Are all benefits affected by this change? These changes do not concern all benefits. The declaration of resources for housing benefits (APL) or the declaration of resources for the allowance for disabled adults (AAH) are not concerned by this simplification.
Rudaw Net
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Rudaw Net
Khazali says Israel seeks to ‘separate' Kurdish territories in Iraq, Syria
Also in Iraq Baghdad captures major drug dealer amid ongoing anti-narcotics efforts Tribal violence leaves 1 killed, 8 injured in Basra Mission of global coalition forces in Iraq to end by 2026: Security Media Cell Iraq to begin implementing land return law 'within two months:' Minister A+ A- SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region - Qais al-Khazali, leader of the Iran-backed Asaib Ahl al-Haq (AAH), said on Monday that Israel's main objective in allegedly reshaping the Middle East is to 'support the separation' of Kurdish territories in Iraq and Syria. Delivering an Eid al-Fitr sermon, Khazali stated that Israel's so-called 'David Corridor,' a project aimed at expanding Israeli control to the Euphrates River, involves 'parts of the Iraqi borders and Iraqi lands.' 'Its goal … is to reach the Kurdish lands in Iraq and Syria, considering the ongoing cooperation [between Israel and the Kurds],' Khazali alleged, adding that the plan involves supporting the Kurds to separate from Iraq and Syria. 'The Israeli incursion and occupation of Syrian territory… are primarily aimed at realizing their ambitions to occupy Syrian territory and achieve the greater goal of reaching the Euphrates River,' he continued. The Kurdish-controlled territories in northeast Syria (Rojava) run along the Euphrates River, with the southeastern part under the control of the new Syrian administration headed by President Ahmad al-Sharaa. Khazali's comments come amid increasing Israeli incursions into Syria. AAH is designated as a 'terrorist organization' by Washington because of its alleged ties to Iran and attacks on US and coalition forces. Israel in Syria In late March, a deadly Israeli airstrike on the southern province of Daraa drew international condemnation from regional and global powers such as Germany, Jordan, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said it was targeting 'several terrorists who opened fire toward them,' adding that they launched airstrikes on two military bases in Syria's central Homs province to destroy "military capabilities" in the area. Damascus said six were killed in the Daraa attack. Geir Pedersen, the UN special envoy for Syria, expressed concern in the Security Council on Tuesday about 'Israeli statements on its intention to stay in Syria' and its demands for southern Syria to be demilitarized. Since Assad's ouster in early December, Israel has scrambled to destroy Damascus's military stockpiles. It also sent troops across the border into a buffer zone east of the annexed Golan Heights, justifying the move as a precaution amid the political instability in Syria. Throughout the Syrian civil war, as well, Israel carried out hundreds of strikes, often justifying them under the pretext of targeting pro-Iran armed groups, such as Lebanon's Hezbollah, which supported toppled president Bashar al-Assad at the time. In early February, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar urged Syria's new rulers to respect minority rights, including those of the Druze, Kurds, and Alawites. Minorities in Syria In early March, however, Damascus faced widespread condemnation after a violent crackdown on Assad loyalists in the coastal Alawite-majority areas, where at least 1,500 people were killed - mostly civilians - according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor. The Kurds in Rojava and the Druze in southern Syria have been firm in demanding decentralization in post-Bashar al-Assad Syria, despite Damascus rejecting federalism and at times calling it a 'red line.' Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) - the de facto army of northeast Syria (Rojava) - said in early March that he would not reject Israeli support if offered. His remarks were in response to a comment by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had earlier expressed openness to support minorities in Syria, namely the Druze and the Kurds. AAH in Iraq AAH has also taken a firm stance on domestic political and security matters. In September, Khazali rejected the United States' delivery of a number of 105mm howitzers to the Peshmerga forces in August, which the Iraqi defense ministry said at the time was approved by previous federal cabinets. Khazali said it is "important to correct this mistake by returning them [the artillery] to the federal army." Meanwhile, in early March, AAH boycotted a parliamentary session of the Iraqi parliament in protest of the exclusion of a contentious law from the agenda that aims to regulate the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) structure, salaries, and retirement policies. The State of Law Coalition, led by former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Khazali's AAH, are among the most influential Shiite political parties in Iraq, both maintaining strong ties to Iran and advocating for the institutionalization of the PMF, which is composed of various armed factions - some of which have close ties to Iran. The PMF was established in 2014 during the Islamic State's (ISIS) rise to power, which saw the group seize control of large parts of Iraq's north and west. The group was created following a fatwa, a religious edict, by Iraq's highest Shiite authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to protect the country's holy Shiite sites in the southern Najaf and Karbala provinces Following the Kurdish referendum in 2017 and the defeat of ISIS, the northern oil-rich province of Kirkuk, which was largely controlled by the Kurdish Peshmerga, was expelled and taken over by the PMF. The province is disputed between Baghdad and Erbil.
Local France
25-03-2025
- Business
- Local France
French government to increase benefits from April
Starting on April 1st, France will increase the benefits paid out via its 'Family Allowance Fund' ( Caisse d'allocations familiales , or CAF). The increase is to adjust the benefits with annual inflation, so this year, benefits will increase by 1.7 percent. All benefits awarded via CAF are affected. This means that approximately five million households who receive any type family-related aid, like allocations familiales (the family allowance) and the prime à la naissance (the one-time means-tested birth payment), will see their benefits increased from April. READ MORE: Benefits, grants and housing: What are foreigners in France eligible for? In terms of exactly how much this would come out to - CNews reported that a family with two children receiving the allocation familiale for two children would see it increased from €148.52 to €151.04. Families receiving this benefit with three children would see it increased from €338.80 to €344.55. Advertisement CAF also pays out other types of benefits, such as housing assistance, the RSA (the top-up benefit for low-paid part-time workers), and the disability payment ( Allocation aux adultes handicapés , or AAH). People will also receive their payments earlier than expected. Usually benefits are paid on the 5th of the month, but in April they are expected to go out on Friday, April 4th instead, 20 Minutes reported.
