PARIS, July 31: The French government said on Wednesday that it plans to introduce a new law to toughen political asylum in the country.

Although France does not have as many asylum-seekers as does Britain, French authorities nevertheless admit that they had to handle more than 77,000 requests last year.

Under the proposed legislation, OFPRA (Office Francais de Protection des Refugies et Demandeurs d’asile) would become the sole governmental agency where requests for asylum could be filed.

Until now, the French Interior Ministry also handled requests, which last year alone totalled 33,000.

The government of Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin says that it wants to simplify and shorten the procedure that asylum- seekers must follow, a process that presently takes on average 18 months.

The process would not only be shortened — but also toughened — for asylum-seekers from countries such as Gabon, Mauritius, Mongolia, South Africa and Sri Lanka, which French authorities no longer consider as being politically repressive.

Another tenet of the new law would make it easier for French authorities to refuse right of admission to persons arriving at French ports without appropriate papers.