Our speech in the SF will concentrate on several different aspects concerning the processes of migration or rather immigration in and to France.

In order to give you an idea of what it will be about we just present our structure:

•- Definition: Migration; Immigration
•- Basic historical information
•- Reasons for immigration
•- Official settlements
•- Being an Immigrant in France
•- Effects of Immigration
•- Sources
Those are the most important facts you should know about the single aspects:
- Definition:
1) Migration–>
Moving from one country to another, foreign country in order to stay and live there. The person doing so is called a “migrant”.
2) Immigration–> Citizens consider people who have moved from a foreign country in order to settle in “their” country as immigrants. The movement is called “immigration”.

Basic historical information

- development:

at first, immigration was considered as a benefit for France as well as for its economy…:

–> At the beginning of 18th/19th century, immigration was wanted due to the lack of workforce (Arbeitskräfte) resulting from the processes of industrialization.

Not only as a consequence of the end of WW2 and the economic recovery (Wirtschaftsboom) which followed in the 1950s/1960s, but especially because of the decolonisation process a huge number of people immigrated France.

With regard to this aspect it is important to mention Algeria’s independence in 1962 which caused many people to immigrate to France. Their aim was to find a suitable job.

…but then immigration became a big problem:

–> The first major problems resulted from the economical crisis in the early 1970s:

Due to the former demand on foreign and therefore cheap workforce the number of immigrants did not stop increasing even though an interdiction of further immigration had been invented. And people who had already immigrated the country, decided to stay there, took in their families and the whole process of immigration went on.

In the early 1990s, the politician Charles Pasqua intended to enforce the regulations concerning the process of immigration. His aim was to create the so called “immigration zéro” which exactly consisted of three main aspects:

1. the reform of the law on citizenship

2. the bill on identity check

3. the bill on the entry and the stay of foreigners in France

Afterwards, in the years around 1997, regulations and restrictions had been softened again due to the new prime minister “Lionel Jospin”

And although, since 2002, when, again, a new prime minister had taken his office, the development rather goes back to the restrictive system, many people still have the aim that, one day, immigration is consideded as something absolutely normal and as an enrichment of the French society.

Maybe it is a kind of hint to this aspect that despite the restrictions, the number of people immigrating France increases each year…

<!–[endif]–>Effects of immigration (Disadvantages and Advantages)

Disadvantages:

- Jobs are one of the major problems because immigrants take away the inhabitants’ jobs. They are cheap workforce and therefore likely to be wanted by the enterprises.

- France has to accept a lot of costs due to immigration/immigrants which means paying for the “housing” , justice, health care etc.

- The differenciated residental areas and the different mentality can make integration of immigrants become difficult especially due to the distrust French citizens have in the “foreign people”. Those are often imputed (unterstellt) to be criminals.

- Immigration is hardly controllable for the state

Advantages:

- Immigration is very important for economy because of offering cheap workforce which demonstrates a definite benefit for enterprises. Those do not even have to take care of health insurances or the like.

- Immigrants do jobs which inhabitants refuse to do.

If you want to have the most important information about the other aspects just click on Merle’s blog:

http://merlebleeker.wordpress.com/

 

 


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