France immigration policy

France is home to one of the highest proportions of immigrant descendents in Europe.

1. Almost a tenth of Frances population are immigrants:

8.8 percent to be exact. From 2004 to 2012
an average of 200,000 migrants arrived on French shores every year. Take into account those who left
or died and the figure stands at around 90,000 new immigrants every year.
2. Nearly half of all new immigrants in France are European: C
ontrary to popular belief, Africans do
not represent the biggest new immigrant group in France. According to Frances national statistics body
INSEE, in 2012 they made up 30 percent of new arrivals from abroad whereas Europeans accounted for
46 percent.
3. More Portuguese than any other nationality:
Eight percent of Frances migrant population in 2012
was born in Portugal, more so than people from former French colonies Morocco and Algeria (seven
percent each). Brits and Spaniards (five percent each) as well as Italians and Germans (four percent
each) made up the largest migrant groups on French soil.
4. Immigration from Europe started rising sharply in 2009:
Crisishit Europeans started arriving in
droves in France in 2009. Going from 88,820 new arrivals in 2009 to 105,830 in 2012, migration from
other European countries has seen a much more pronounced increase than from any other continent.
6. France is the worlds fourth most popular destination country.
7. More people than ever expelled: T
here were a total of 23,000 expulsions from French soil in 2012,
a nine percent rise compared to the previous year. Up to 4,300 of these cases were however through
voluntary return assistance. A reduction in the final contribution provided in such cases led to a drop in
the number of immigrants who chose to leave in 2013.
8. One in four asylum seekers got residency:
In 2012 41,000 adults applied for asylum alongside
14,000 minors. A total of 14,000 (including minors) of these were granted residency. The biggest
asylum seeker groups hailed from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Russia, Sri Lanka, Serbia and
Montenegro, and China.
9. More families reunited:
163,000 new nonEEA immigrants arrived on French shores in 2012 to stay
thanks to a seven percent increase in admissions for family reunification. Most of these thirdcountry
nationals granted permanent residence were North African: Moroccan (20,200 people), Algerian
(25,000) and Tunisian (12,000).
10. More migrants arriving, fewer becoming French:
According to INSEE, Frances immigrant
population is rising at an average of 1.6 percent per year. But that doesnt translate to more foreigners
being granted French citizenship. In 2012, naturalizations declined to 96,000 cases, 16 percent fewer
than in 2011. The OECD puts the drop down to stricter requirements for language examinations among
other eligibility conditions.

France has traditionally been a country with a fairly open border policy, but there have been recent
efforts, as reflected in a July 2006 law, to restrict the immigration of unskilled workers and persons
who would become a burden on the French State.
Asylum in France
French law recognizes rights to asylum or political refugee status for a foreignborn person who is
subject to persecution by a sovereign or nonsovereign authority. Asylum may be granted further to the
rules of the Geneva Convention, where the petitioner can establish that he/she is persecuted in
his/her country due to race, religion, nationality, belonging to a social group or due to his/her political
opinions. Asylum may also be granted by reference to the 1946 French Constitution based upon
persecution due to actions in favour of freedom. Refugee or asylum status is requested at the French
Office for Protection of Refugees and Expatriates (OFPRA). After the OFPRA issues a certificate of
deposit of the request, the petitioner must go to the Prfecture where he resides, which will issue a
receipt of request for asylum, valid for three months. If the petitioner is admitted under asylum status
and he/she has a long stay visa, the Prfecture will issue a receipt valid for a six month stay, which is
renewable until the OFPRA issues its final decision. If OFPRA's reply is positive, the petitioner may
claim a residency card.
Fixing this problem: Solutions
In this context, UNHCR's work in the subregion will also focus on:
Assisting and supporting governments to build and maintain fair and efficient asylum and
protection systems;
Ensuring border management is more protectionsensitive. The Office will promote alternatives
to detention. It will also advocate for reception conditions that meet minimum international
standards;
Promoting responsibilitysharing among EU Member States, complementing the efforts of the
European Commission and the European Asylum Support Office (EASO);
Promoting community participation and preventing and responding to incidents of sexual and
genderbased violence(SGBV);
Advocating for more resettlement places and enhancing integration capacity in resettlement
countries;
Urging States to accede to the 1954 and 1961 UN Statelessness Conventions, improving
mechanisms to identify and protect stateless people and preventing and resolving situations of
statelessness; and
Supporting EU policymaking processes related to people of concern and mobilizing regional
political and financial support for UNHCR's work worldwide.

Why refugees dont go to France

Just a few years ago, France had among the highest number of claims in Europe, but its lack of
accommodation and support for asylum seekers as well as long wait times for applications to be
processed have make it a less attractive option for many refugees. Many asylum seekers are homeless

and left with nowhere to live and sleep. Once they manage to apply for asylum, the current average
wait for applications to be processed is between 16 and 19 months. During that time, asylum seekers
cannot work or access social welfare services such as income support and government housing. And
after this interminable delay, the majority of asylum applications are rejected. In 2014, France only
approved 22 percent of asylum claims (the EUs average approval rate was 45 percent). What matters
for refugees is to know that they have a community they're going to. In the end there is a much bigger
Syrian community in Germany. France is not a natural destination for Syrians seeking a new country,
while it is for refugees from West Africa, Sri Lanka or Bangladesh for instance.
The French government is currently working on a new asylum law that aims to reduce the waiting time
for processing claims to nine months. Local government responses are also appearing: this week Paris
officials made 18 commitments to improve its response to asylum seekers including offering French
classes to refugees and asylum seekers and paying a financial subsidy to Parisians who put them up in
their own homes.
Among the Syrian refugees living in France, some arrived through an official resettlement programme.
French President Franois Hollande agreed to welcome 30,000 Syrian refugees by the end of 2016. They
will receive immediate refugee status and a residence permit within three months. Six hundred have
already arrived, after being relocated from Germany, but about 100 have already returned to
Germany. By inviting them, the French government showed it has the necessary resources to welcome
asylum seekers in good conditions, said Decourcelle. In that case, why not offer [the same conditions]
to those who are already in France and want to stay?
Funding from the EU
Countries of the EU should pay according to the size and wealth of the country. Greece and other
countries struggling to cope with a massive influx of refugees will receive hundreds of millions in extra
EU funding for emergency aid under plans declared in Brussels.
The European commissioner for humanitarian aid, Christos Stylianides, said on Wednesday that 700m
(544m) would be spent over three years on helping refugees.
The UN refugee agency had warned on Tuesday that Europe stood on the verge of a largely
selfinduced humanitarian crisis, while NGOs condemned the failure to get to grips with t
he unfolding
emergency
.
Stylianides said the plan meant the EU would be able to deliver emergency aid much faster than
before, including food, emergency healthcare, shelter and clean water. The new instrument will
reduce humanitarian suffering for refugees in Europe, he said.
But we should have no illusions. To bring a sustainable solution to this crisis we must address its root
cause in the countries of origin, he added, naming Syria and Iraq. These are extraordinary times, we
need to step up our efforts to avoid a further deterioration of the situation.
Much of the new money is likely to end up in Greece, as EU leaders scramble to help Athens deal with
the crisis, with more than 24,000 refugees in need of permanent shelter and 2,000 people arriving on
the countrys shores each day.
Stylianides said the money would go wherever the needs are greatest, although no specific sum has
been allocated for Greece. The UN and NGOs, such as the Red Cross, will be invited to apply for funds
and manage aid projects in countries dealing with the refugee crisis.
The European council president, Do
The funds will not be available immediately, as EU member states and the European parliament must
sign off on the money. But if agreed, 300m will be available in 2016, with two instalments of 200m to

follow in 2017 and 2018 a sign EU authorities are not expecting refugee numbers to abate anytime
soon.
The Dublin Law:
The Dublin Regulation establishes the Member State responsible for the examination
of the asylum application. The criteria for establishing responsibility run, in hierarchical order, from
family considerations, to recent possession of visa or residence permit in a Member State, to whether
the applicant has entered EU irregularly, or regularly.
Experience of the previous system has however shown the need to better address situations of
particular pressure on Member States' reception capacities and asylum systems.
Refugee distribution quota system:
On 22 September, the Council adopted a decision establishing an
emergency relocation scheme that involves mandatory hard quotas. The plan envisages the relocation
of 120,000 asylum seekers from Italy and Greece based on a mandatory distribution key determined by
considering the economic strength, population density, unemployment rate and average number of past
asylum applications of the Member States.
Together with the 40,000 asylum seekers who the Member States agreed to relocate from Greece and
Italy with an earlier decision, the relocation of a total of 160,000 asylum seekers is envisaged. In
return, the participating states are compensated from a fund financed from the EU budget. The second
decision imposes mandatory quotas and expects all Member States to participate in proportion to their
strength by accepting asylum seekers into their territories. Only in exceptional circumstances are
Member States allowed to request the temporary suspension of relocation of up to 30 per cent of
applicants allocated to it.
On the other hand, while ensuring a more balanced sharing of responsibilities among the states, the
decision seems to disregard the fact that a forced relocation system may cause protection gaps.
According to the allocation scheme, the asylum seekers are not allowed to choose their asylum state.
Asylum solidarity has two dimensions, namely solidarity towards refugees and interstate solidarity.
These two aspects of asylum solidarity are closely intertwined, in the sense that the former may be
facilitated by promoting the latter. A mechanism that effectively reduces the costs for overburdened
host countries would, at the same time, improve protection standards.
Yet a fair distribution of asylum responsibilities does not always ensure better protection for refugees.
The relocation scheme seems to be based on the assumption that all asylum seekers voluntarily leave
Greece and Italy to go to a relocation state. During the crisis, it became evident that some countries
show strong resistance against opening their borders to refugees.
Asylum seekers may become victims of racially motivated violence, especially in societies that are not
familiar with multiracial and multicultural living. Experiences in both Germany and the UK indicate
that dispersal schemes that impose forced relocation may put the safety of refugees at risk. The
decision, therefore, while seeking to facilitate a fair allocation of responsibilities, seems to undermine
the best interests of refugees.
Integrating migrants into France:
In France, refugee integration and migrant integration partly overlap, but also substantially differ.
Responsibility for integration comes under the remit of the Ministry of the Interior. The most recent
approach to integration in France has at its heart the Contrat dAccueil et dIntgration (Reception and

Integration Contract, CAI) for all new migrants aiming to settle permanently in France, including
refugees. Provision and delivery of the CAI is coordinated by the Office Franais de lImmigration et de
lIntgration (French Office of Immigration and Integration, OFII). OFII received 11.6 million Euro to
deliver the CAI in 2013. Like any other new migrant aiming to permanently settle in France, refugees
are expected to sign the CAI, which has been mandatory since 2007 and includes:
Mandatory training on civic education (six hours);
Mandatory training on life in France (between one and six hours depending on individual needs);
A skills assessment carried out by private providers on behalf of OFII (up to three hours); and Up to
400 hours of free French language training for new migrants whose level of French is deemed too low,
which shall enable beneficiaries to reach the A1 or A2 level of the Common European Framework of
Reference for Languages.
In addition, French integration policies specifically aim to tackle difficulties faced by migrants who
have long settled in France, in particular female and elderly migrants. To that end, the French state
has granted 38.5 million Euro in 2013, mostly to national or local NonGovernmental Organizations
(NGOs) working with longterm migrants with the aim to provide language courses, further access to
education or employment and specifically help female and elderly migrants. This also funds integration
programmes coordinated at the regional level. These programmes are cofunded with the European
Integration Fund. Refugees, however, are not directly targeted by the second scheme.
Upon obtaining refugee status, refugees are mainstreamed into French society. That is, they benefit
from the same entitlements as any other French citizen or permanently residing foreign residents.
These include:
The right to seek employment and social housing;
Access to the French healthcare system;
Access to social benefits in the same way as nationals, including the Revenu de Solidarit Active
(Active Solidarity Income, RSA) which financially supports unemployed or underemployed individuals;
The right to apply for special family reunification without conditions of income, housing or duration
of stay; and
The right to apply for French nationality without conditions of length of stay.
Relevant to all EU countries : UNHCR has identified challenges to the integration of refugees in all EU
Member States. Understanding the particular barriers and opportunities for refugee integration in each
of the national contexts is therefore relevant. As such, UNHCR would ideally have provided a
comprehensive review of refugee integration in all EU Member States. However, time and resource
constraints dictated that a selection of Member States was made to participate in this project.
Furthermore, experiences from working with refugees in most EU Member States showed there are
sufficient similarities in the barriers and facilitators impacting refugee integration to allow for a more
selective approach. The four project countries were selected in order to include countries with
different experiences of refugee flows but where commonalities can nevertheless be observed, and

where some integration support is already in place and some evaluation has taken place. All four
countries have substantial experience receiving asylumseekers and with integration of refugees
recognized in the national asylum systems. Nevertheless differences among the four countries in
relation to refugee flows, language, integration strategies and integration support allow for a broader
perspective to be presented.
Refugee integration is only considered at the margins in most mainstream publications or statistics on
migrant integration in France. In the field of asylum research, attention is mostly focused on the
asylum process, including the decisionmaking process, and its aftermath for those whose asylum claim
has been rejected. There is, however, little research on those who are successful. As a result,
integration of refugees remains largely understudied in French research.
Employment in France is one of the biggest issues for refugees and migrants. A publication based on
the PPM survey shows that only 34 per cent of surveyed refugees were employed (Direction de
lanimation de la recherche des tudes et des statistiques 2011). Only migrants coming through family
reunification, principally women, had a lower employment rate (only 17 per cent employed). Proving
their desire to work, almost half (48 per cent) of all sampled refugees were looking for a job at the
time of the survey.