Today's Date:

July 2001

Immigration is not just one of today’s sensitive political issues, it also offers an opportunity to examine social ties, national integration and citizenship.

Reasons for migration

France is a traditional country of immigration: for over 150 years, while other countries have been combining high birth rates and emigration, France has been taking in foreign populations to prevent her demographic decline. Even today, immigration is still in some cases put forward as the remedy for the ageing of the national population.

Arch defender of human rights, France also likes to think of herself as a land of asylum for political refugees. Since the beginning of the last century she has taken in, inter alia, Italians, Poles, White Russians, Ukrainians, Armenians, Spanish Republicans, Chileans and Asians. In 1952, France signed the 1951 Geneva Convention which governs current asylum methods and created the Office français de protection des réfugiés et apatrides (OFPRA – French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons).

In France, an industrializing country, manpower requirements led to the twentieth century’s two main waves of immigrants: to rebuild the country after the First World War in the 1920s and for the same reasons in the 1960s (1956 to 1973). The Office national d’immigration (ONI – National Immigration Office) was set up in 1946 to organize the recruitment of the foreign workers required to meet the needs of the boom in industry.

Lastly, family reunification is the final main reason for migration. At the outset, immigrant workers were not supposed to settle in France; as single people, they were allocated to hostels. Over the years, however, immigrants increasingly began to arrive with their families – or arranged for them to come over. Other forms of accommodation were then needed. Some (such as temporary hostels) were to remain squalid places.

In July 1974, when economic growth was slowing down, the government announced that immigration would officially be brought to an end, although the right to asylum and family reunification would continue. The latter then became the main source of immigration: it predominates in the statistics of the ONI, which in 1987 became the Office des migrations internationales (OMI – International Migration Office).

Foreigners and immigrants: the figures

A distinction needs to be drawn between foreigners and immigrants. The former are simply people who do not have French nationality. The latter are people living in France who were born abroad. Consequently, not all foreigners are immigrants and, in particular, immigrants who have acquired French nationality are no longer foreigners. Nowadays, over one third of immigrants (36%) have become French. These facts must be borne in mind when looking at statistics on foreigners in France.

The 1999 general population census shows a 9% fall in the number of foreigners since 1990, for two main reasons: naturalizations (550,000 during the period) and deaths (190,000). In March 1999, 3,260,000 foreigners were resident in metropolitan France (i.e. 5.6% of the population).

The number of immigrants is, however, stagnating, as it has increased in much the same way as the total population over the last ten years (3.4%): 4,310,000 immigrants were resident in France in March 1999.

National origins of immigrants

Immigration to France was initially from other European countries: Italy, Belgium and Poland up to the Second World War and then Spain and in particular Portugal after the war. In the 1950s, immigration from Africa – the Maghreb to start with, and then sub-Saharan Africa – increased in absolute and relative terms. More recently, countries of origin have diversified with a rise in Asian nationals (especially from south-east Asia: +35% between the two censuses) and, to a lesser extent, Turks (+16%) and immigrants from eastern Europe. The main increase, however, has been among the population from sub-Saharan Africa which tripled between 1982 and 1990 and has almost doubled (+43%) in the last ten years.

Between 1962 and 1975, Italians were the largest immigrant population (32%) ahead of Spaniards, Poles and Algerians. Since 1975, Portuguese people have been the largest community of foreign origin, with Algerians the second largest. Their numbers are smaller, however, than those of north Africans as a whole (Algerians + Moroccans + Tunisians).

According to INSEE (National Institute of Statistics and Information about the Economy), the geographical origins of foreigners became more diversified between 1990 and 1999: people of European origin totalled only 1,600,000, i.e. a decline of 9.3% in comparison with 1990. This decline has been continuous for over 25 years: European nationals accounted for 57% of the foreign population in 1975, 49% in 1990 and 45% in 1999.

More often than not, migratory flows initially involve single workers and then families. Consequently, to begin with, the immigrants' age structure differs from that of the overall population: more male and adult. Subsequently, permanent family reunification leads to their population pyramid becoming like that for the French as a whole: the male immigrant population is ageing (22% fewer foreigners aged under 30 in 1999 than in 1990, while the over-40s increased by 15%). The number of men and women is also tending to level out.

Position of immigrants: disparate data

Statistics on foreigners and immigrants are tricky to draw up: differentiating between French people on the basis of their parents' national origin may lead to risks of discrimination (the use of the register of Jews by the Vichy Regime in the Second World War is a tragic example of this). This is why only foreigners, i.e. people permanently resident in France who state that they do not have French nationality, are officially registered. Immigrants are not registered as such once they have become French: they disappear as immigrants from the general population census. Moreover, unlike most of the other EU member States, France has no municipal population register to which everyone, whether foreign or not, must report their arrival in the commune [smallest administrative subdivision in France].

Statistical data are dispersed between different government departments, and serve different purposes:

INSEE (National Institute of Statistics and Information about the Economy] conducts the population census;

OMI (the International Migration Office) registers arrivals;

the Population and Migration Directorate records the number of naturalizations;

OFPRA (French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons) deals with asylum applications;

the Ministry of the Interior issues residence permits;

the Ministry of Justice is responsible for acquisitions of nationality;

and INED (National Institute for Demographic Research) presents to Parliament an annual report on the demographic situation.

These data use different terminology and figures and analyse different variants. It is therefore difficult to use them to draw up statistics on immigrants.

Integration of immigrants: political framework

Immigrants always remain attached to their community of origin and their national or "ethnic" culture. Nevertheless, their participation in civic, community and economic life is also shaped by the political traditions of host societies. Some countries have relied on immigration for their development (United States, Canada, Australia, Argentina, etc.) while others have tended during their history to avoid immigration (the European countries in general). This is one of the reasons why the integration model of a nation-State cannot be transposed.

There are three main models of integration for foreigners and immigrants:

The so-called German ethnic model according to which nationality is conferred chiefly by descent (jus sanguinis), language, culture and religion; foreign "ethnic" groups are regarded as being impossible to assimilate and the policy does not therefore aim to transform them into nationals;

The so-called French "political" model, according to which nationality together with citizenship is based largely on acceptance of the droit du sol, which is a combination of residence and jus soli [place of birth] and in which "ethnic" identities are confined to private life rather than spilling over into the public sphere (secularism); the implicit aim is the individual integration of each immigrant by schools and other institutions;

The British/US model in which minorities are recognized (in community life, but not legally) as political players; here, ideological differences may lead to collective forms of segregation: ethnic neighbourhoods, and segregation in social activities and in the workplace.

Acquiring French nationality

The rules on nationality are set out in the basic order of 19 October 1945 (amended in 1973, 1984, 1993 and 1998). They are based on the jus soli (droit du sol) – people are French because of their place of birth and residence (France) even if their parents are foreign – and on the jus sanguinis (droit du sang [blood right]) – people are French whatever their place of birth and residence provided that their parents are French.

The three main ways in which French nationality can be gained are:

naturalization, i.e. the granting of nationality to people who have reached their majority (18 years) and have lived in France for at least five years;

acquisition, in the case of 18-year-old children of foreigners born in France and resident there for at least five years between the ages of 11 and 18 (under Article 44). Although between 1993 (Act of 22 July) and 1998 (Act of 16 March) applicants had to "manifest a desire" to become French in order to enjoy this right, this is no longer required.

declaration, following marriage to a French man or woman (the marriage must have lasted at least one year).

Public integration policies

According to the Republican tradition, public policies cannot take account of nationality of origin; measures discriminating positively in favour either of foreign immigrants or of French people are not admissible. Foreigners enjoy civil, social and economic rights on a par with those of national citizens; political rights (the right to vote and be elected) are confined to the latter. For instance, systems and measures to combat unemployment and promote occupational integration cannot be aimed at immigrants as a specific population, but may target them as "disadvantaged" groups, like the long-term unemployed, single parents, the disabled and young people with no qualifications.

However, the task of the FAS (Social action fund for immigrant workers and their families - Fonds d'action sociale pour les travailleurs immigrés et leurs familles), set up in 1958, is to foster the social integration of immigrants through measures for families, children and young people in the areas of housing (participation in the management of migrant workers’ hostels), training (including literacy) and employment.

Achievements of the French policy to integrate foreigners

Generally speaking, observers agree that the French integration model has been successful: the earlier waves of immigration (from Italy, Poland, Belgium, Spain, etc.) have been assimilated; the more recent ones (from Portugal and the Maghreb) appear to be being integrated socially, culturally and politically – although their economic and occupational integration is not yet complete. Reference to standard integration criteria seems to bear this out:

nationalization statistics confirm the model’s efficacy: when immigrants' children had to "manifest" the desire to be French, when applying for French nationality, the overwhelming majority did so; they now acquire it automatically;

there are many mixed marriages (between French people and foreigners): according to the 1999 census, 9.6% of the 271,361 marriages celebrated in 1998 were with a foreign spouse;

at school, according to sociologists, in comparable socio-economic and family circumstances, immigrants' children are at least as successful as other young French people;

as regards housing, there are not strictly speaking any ghettoes; "problem" districts contain vulnerable people from a variety of different backgrounds. It should nevertheless be borne in mind that close on two thirds of immigrants live in towns of more than 200,000 inhabitants (one third live in Ile de France).

Nevertheless, in some areas the French integration model seems to be running out of steam, although the causes of the problems faced by immigrants tend to be socio-economic (working class backgrounds, few vocational qualifications) rather than "ethnic" (foreign backgrounds, national cultures):

schooling: young foreigners are less likely than others to follow a "normal" school career (collège [mixed-ability school for children aged between 11 and 15 approximately], general education lycée [catering for children between 15 and 18 years of age] and then higher education). French middle-class families also use various strategies to avoid sending their children to schools with a high percentage of foreign children (dispensations from school catchment areas, enrolment in private education, etc.). Schools may themselves be "elite" establishments or, on the contrary, de facto, "ethnic" ones catering for a homogenous group of disadvantaged pupils.

housing: the most socially and economically disadvantaged, among whom immigrants are over-represented, tend to be concentrated in certain districts, estates, or high-density housing complexes;

employment: in 1995, there were 1.97 million (7.8% of France's total active population) active foreigners (i.e. those in or looking for jobs). 46% of these were manual workers (compared with an average of only 26% for the country as a whole). Immigrants tend, moreover, to be working class whatever their country of origin – with particularly high levels among Moroccans and Algerians. The immigrant population has much lower job security (fixed-term contracts, temporary work). They also suffer badly from unemployment (20% of active foreigners were unemployed in 1995 in comparison with a national average of 12%). Non-European nationals are the worst affected: in March 1998 their unemployment rate, based on the International Labour Office (ILO) standard, was 31.4% in comparison with 11% for French people. Young foreigners (aged 15 to 24) are in an even more difficult position: their unemployment rate rose from 22% to 43% between 1992 and 1996, while the rate for young French people increased only from 16.2% to 21% over the same period.

The causes of these integration problems are not only economic and social (lack of education and qualifications, few financial resources, social problems, etc.), but also have to do with mutual cultural perceptions.

Discrimination against immigrants is seen particularly when they are looking for jobs. Openly discriminatory job offers are illegal, but many other, more discreet practices escape the clutches of the law. Consequently, the number of legal convictions (74 in 1995 and 81 in 1996) does not show the whole picture.

Racism is targeted in particular against peoples whose presence evokes a conflict-ridden colonial past: immigrants from the Maghreb are the main targets of hostility (more so than other Africans and far more so than Asians, and particularly the Portuguese). Support for Islam, which many people consider impossible to integrate into French civilization or at the very least to be incapable of embracing a secular culture, but which is nevertheless France’s second religion, is perceived in the worst of cases as a challenge to the national tradition of integration. This feeling of foreignness is fuelled by differences in customs (women’s status, lifestyles, family authority, etc.).

Looking at this from a historical perspective, it is important to remember that all groups of immigrants, whatever their original nationality, religion, skin colour or customs, have been victims of racism. Xenophobia is often linked to periods of economic depression and the notions of "tolerance threshold" or "inability to integrate" are devoid of any sociological meaning.

Prospects for the integration of immigrants in France

Nowadays, immigration into France has to be seen in a European context; on the one hand, because the integration paths of European and non-European immigrants are diverging (better integration of the former because they are EU citizens; emergence of the notion of "European racism" working against the latter) and, on the other, because national immigration and integration policies are now in line with the Community Treaties which set out the frameworks for action by member States. Moreover, member States are now being confronted by the same problems: radical economic changes, employment crisis, urban segregation, marginalization of unskilled workers, calling into question of education systems, racism, etc.).

Each country has its own way of integrating its population depending on its political tradition. At the same time, however, asylum and immigration policy is becoming a Community matter: under the Schengen Agreements (1985 and 1990), the signatory countries had already agreed, for instance, to harmonize conditions for the issue of short-stay visas. The Treaty of Amsterdam (Article 73k), signed in 1997, states that the Council of the Union should draw up measures in two areas of immigration policy: entry and residence conditions (issue of visas and long-term residence permits, including for the purpose of family reunion, by the member States) and illegal immigration and illegal residence. In the long term, these decisions will be taken by qualified majority. EU nation-States will nevertheless retain the right to decide independently how to form themselves into communities of citizens.

Bibliography

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Haut Conseil à l'Intégration, L'intégration à la française, Report to the Prime Minister, La Documentation française, 1993
Noiriel, Gérard, Le creuset français, Seuil, 1988
Schnapper, Dominique, L'Europe des immigrés. Essai sur les politiques d'immigration, François Bourin, 1992
Todd, Emmanuel, Le destin des immigrés. Assimilation et ségrégation dans les démocraties modernes, Seuil, 1994
Tribalat, Michèle, Faire France. Une enquête sur les immigrés et leurs enfants, La Documentation française, 1995.