http://digbig.com/4gcje
"With asylum options drying up, foreigners are opting for another way to stay in France: medical grounds.
Residency permits have soared from only 1,000 six years ago, to 16,000 in 2004, France's Le Figaro newspaper reported.
Besides top political figures seeking treatment in France recently -- including former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Algerian President Abdel Aziz Boutefliqa -- are thousands of would be immigrants who reportedly find few other ways to enter the country legally.
Foreigners can seek treatment in France for a variety of diseases, including HIV/AIDS, cancer and kidney infections.
But many are scrambling to obtain fake medical documents attesting to bogus diseases, Le Figaro reported.
So dramatically have entries on medical grounds grown in recent years that French authorities are reportedly preparing new directives to avoid abuse. " [Snippet]
