The asylum seeker may attend the personal interview accompanied either by a lawyer or a representative of a human rights association, an association defending the rights of foreign nationals or asylum seekers, an association defending the rights of women or children or an association fighting persecution based on gender identity or sexual orientation. The conditions for authorising associations and the procedures for approving their representatives by the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons are set by decree in the Council of State. Only associations that are independent of the authorities in asylum seekers’ countries of origin and that provide assistance to all asylum seekers may be approved. The lawyer or representative of the association may only intervene to make observations at the end of the interview.
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