By Yusuke Yamada

On October 27 of last year, large-scale riots broke out in Paris plunging France in swirling chaos. What sparked the riots was an incident involving two boys of African origin who were accidentally electrocuted in a transformer substation after they were chased by policeman. Afterward, Interior Minister Dominique de Vellepin referred to the mob as the scum of society. His remark was like pouring gas onto the fire of the riots. At the end of it all, five thousand cars were burned and one thousand people were restrained in 11 days of rioting. The fact that the immigrant population accounts for about eight percent (approximately five million) of the French population is one big reason for the scale of these riots. To understand the problems we have to know the history of France's immigration policy.

France began to accept a large number of immigrants from the 1850s, the period of domestic economic growth. The peak of the flow arrived in the 1930s. Immigrants settled into low-paying jobs, such as mining, auto manufacturing, or agriculture. However, they contributed to the economic growth at that time. The growing European economies have influenced the patterns of immigration since the 1950s. Economical differences among the European countries were leveling out, while the differences between Europe and the Third World, which represented the former French colonies, significantly expanded. Most immigrants were from other European countries before WWII, but that changed to the Third World after the war. At present this trend has not changed. The majority of immigrants are from Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia.

The social environment surrounding immigrants, such as economic hardship and discrimination, was highlighted by this riot. In fact, foreigners are supposed to be low-paid workers and live in condominiums for low-income people. Their annual income is said to be one-sixth that of the French, but their unemployment rate is twice as high. In addition, people from Arab nations actually canﾕt find jobs because they have Arabic names.

French President Jacques Chirac announced a national day of remembrance for the victims of slavery every May 10. He intends to denounce slavery and abolish any remaining forced labor completely. This is meant to show reflection concerning France's colonialism of the past. The establishment of a national day obviously has another purpose, which is to ease the dissatisfaction of the residents from the former colonies. In the old days, people in the colonies were considered by the French to be like slaves. That historical background might be relevant to the age-old discrimination of the immigrants.

The French tend to reject groups of different races and religions. Therefore, France has been adhering to an integration policy as a tradition. It adopted a law banning the wearing of headscarves, a religious symbol for Islam, in public schools. The students are obligated to learn the significance of the French national flag and the history of slavery in primary and secondary schools. This hard-line policy leads to discrimination of foreigners. Although most of the European nations, except France, hold a tolerant attitude toward other religions and cultures, not all of them are successful. The United Kingdom and Germany have similar problems like France.

Many of the French have pride and self-confidence in their nationality. In France, the right and left wing alternately has assumed the reins of government, but the severe policies against immigrants haven't changed. It will be hard to solve both immigration issues and the domestic economic recession.

Though the riots have settled down now, the cause hasn't been resolved. One problem is the massive number of poor immigrants, both legal and illegal, who entered France in the past. France assigns an obscure restriction on the inflow of immigrants, but it can't stop illegal immigrants from entering France. Furthermore, Immigrants are allowed to reunite with their families, so more second-generation and third-generation foreigners are born in France. Another problem is their religion. Most of them are Islamic. Though many of the Islamic faith feel frustrated about the integration policy, France will keep it. The domestic problems concerning the Islamic community will not improve. The above two main factors of this riot have not been completely settled, so fear toward the future remains in France.

Now it is time for France to decisively limit the inflow of immigrants. France has to pay a price for itﾕs former unlimited and unplanned immigration practices. As a country with one of the largest populations of immigrants, France should think about the condition of the economy and the immigrants, and come up with some solutions. It needs to incorporate the experiences and wisdom it has cultivated in its many years of accepting immigrants. France has an opportunity to take the lead among EU nations concerning immigration issues. The French can exploit their unique cultural heritage to resolve the problem.