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Last April, Amnesty
International singled out for particular criticism the violence and
racism of the French police towards the non-white people living in poor
suburbs in French cities. Some of these
districts have sporadically gone up in flames before, attracting public
and political attention for a brief span, and then reverting to normal
life out of sight and mind of most people.
Violence erupted recently in a Paris
suburb (Clichy-sous- Bois). It fanned across Paris and many major cities
of France. Violence by young French
citizens of immigrant origin has neither been widespread nor sustained
for so long in the past. Youths of Arab and African origin torched cars,
buses and homes at random. They threw stones and Molotov cocktails at
the police. Images of cars, buses and blocks of flats on fire shocked
all of us. A hesitant French government finally deployed 10,000
police, including riot police with tear gas, to contain the violence and
restore order. Mr.De Villepin, the Prime
Minister, authorized mayors in French cities to declare curfew whilst
Mr. Sarkozy, the Interior Minister, declared a “war without
mercy” on the protesting youth he described as “scum”.
Has this violent reaction of the immigrant youth exposed the ugly broth
of institutional racism and widespread job discrimination in France? Why
has this problem been ignored by the French who pride in their belief in
“Liberty, Equality & Fraternity”?
In
751 zones designated for special programs by the French government,
unemployment stands at 19.6% - double the national average. For 21 to 29
year olds, it is 30% and for the 3m immigrant youth in this age group,
it is 50%. Incomes, especially for immigrants, are 75 percent below the
national average. Although many of these immigrant youths have
educational/vocational qualification and are hungry for work, they are
unable to secure jobs in both the public and private sectors. Their
residential address, name, ethnic origin and religion disadvantage them.
The French government must be proactive in reducing widespread
institutional and private sector discrimination in jobs for ethnic
French citizens. Employment offices in cities must initiate direct
contact between employers, local politicians and the unemployed to
determine the skills and vocational training required
Most
immigrant
families live in ugly, poorly maintained blocks of public housing in
well-defined suburban districts. These ghettos have been the breeding
ground for discontent, especially for the young. About 200,000
immigrants in the Paris region are homeless. They squat in empty and
abandoned buildings with insecure electric connections and no running
water. Although nearly 1,000 buildings in Paris have been classified by
the city housing department as unsafe and unfit for human habitation,
€300m was cut recently from expenditure for subsidized social housing.
Furthermore, the French government estimates that there are somewhere
between 8,000 and 15,000 polygamous families originating from countries
in Africa and the Middle East. Men with two or more wives - legal in
their country of origin - and their numerous children have been allowed
to enter the country despite France declaring polygamy illegal in
1993.They crowd in squalid shelters precipitating more tension and
social exclusion.
In 1990, President
François Mitterrand publicly declared: "What can a young person hope
for, born in a soulless neighborhood, living in an ugly building
surrounded by ugliness, grey walls in grey surroundings for a grey life,
surrounded by a society that prefers to avert its eyes and get involved
only when it is time to get angry and to stop people from doing things?"
Sadly, neither he nor his successors have been effective in solving the
problem!
Both Mr. De Villepin
and Mr. Sarkozy accept that France must act effectively to reduce
discrimination in employment and housing, create new jobs and offer more
vocational training to reduce very high youth unemployment, especially
amongst its 6 million ‘new’ citizens. Mr.
De Villepin has indicated that he will
speed up a €30 billion urban development plan, triple the number of
merit scholarships for talented students and offer job training and
assistance for disadvantaged youths.
Mr. De Villepin can help eliminate what
Mr. Sarkozy called the ‘scum’ and restore the
French ideal of “Liberty, equality and
fraternity” for all its citizens! His success will help him gain
the French Presidency.
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