Assessment for Muslim (Noncitizens) in France

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Risk Assessment | Analytic Summary | References

Risk Assessment

There is some risk of the non-citizen Muslims in France employing militant strategies in their dealings with the government. Specific factors which may contribute to the likelihood of rebellion amongst the French Muslims include repression and recent rioting.

However, the French Muslims do lack other factors which encourage rebellion such as regime instability, territorial concentration and group cohesion. Furthermore, they have come to France to try to build a better life and would not want to jeopardize this life by such activities. As non-citizens they could simply be deported. The group already faces the stereotype in France that assumes they all Muslims are involved with Algerian terrorist groups, and any militant activity would only reinforce this belief.

The group does have many of the risk factors that point to a high probability of protests, (repression, cultural and political restrictions), and these in combination with their history of protest, such as the 1983 “Marche des Beurs”, in which about 100,000 immigrants marched to Paris, makes this strategy likely to be used again in the future. Certainly their violent riots, which lasted approximately three weeks in 2005 is an indication that Muslims in France are at risk for future protests. Additionally, the war in Iraq and the 2004 passage of the French law banning conspicuous religious symbols, including headscarves, from schools has created tension in the recent years with the Muslim population. While this was largely in practice already due to a ministerial decree in 1994, it did manage to spark some protests in 2004.

While not as bad as in other countries in Western Europe, the ultra right wing is still a threat to the group; racism is rampant; and as more cases of police racism are reported, there will be more demands to protect the group. However, the French government has attempted to help ameliorate problems of integration, including a 2004 move by Sarkozy in which he nominated a Muslim to the post of Préfet in Nantes, France. The Muslims are also very poor compared to the rest of France. The lack of cohesion in the group has been and will continue to be a severe limitation in the group’s attempts to improve their situation.

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Analytic Summary

The first wave of Muslims came to France from North Africa around the time of the First World War, when large numbers arrived to fight with France. This wave of immigrants was granted citizenship. The non-citizen Muslims are those who have arrived after the Second World War to meet the demand for low-paying labor that the citizens of France refused to accept. They are sometimes referred to as maghrébins, meaning from Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco. Second generation immigrants are sometimes labeled “Beurs”, slang for arabes. These immigrants have been willing to move throughout France in the hopes of finding employment usually ending up in the large cities or more notably, in the banlieues or suburbs with high concentrations of poverty (GROUPCON = 1). While the Muslim population tends to be clustered in the banlieues outside of major cities such as Paris, Marseilles and Lyon, the group as a whole is not organized or cohesive. Being from North Africa the non-citizens tend to speak both French and a dialect of Arabic (LANG = 1); they have a different culture than the citizens of France (CUSTOM = 1); and the majority are Sunni Muslims as opposed to Catholic (BELIEF = 2). The most striking difference between the non-citizens and the majority of the population is their physical appearance (RACE= 1) which easily identifies the group and has lead to discrimination, racism and at times attack.

The non-citizen Muslims in France do not face any demographic disadvantages, other than the large numbers of new Muslims arriving in France every year. Being non-citizens, they are somewhat excluded from the political process, although some recent appointments made by the central government to municipal posts, such as Préfet, have attempted to address the issue of under-representation (POLDIS06 = 3). As non-citizens, they are restricted from voting, and they are not allowed to join the police force, military, or civil service. As an extension of being restricted from voting, they are also prevented from running for and obtaining high office. Economically, the group has been neglected throughout their time in France and face social discrimination (ECDIS06 = 3). The migrants, past and present, have more or less voluntarily accepted the conditions that apply to migrant workers throughout Europe: government regulation of employment and weak or nonexistent bargaining rights. While they are poorer than the majority of the French population, they are better off economically in France in comparison to North Africa. Being non-citizens, the Muslims do face several cultural restrictions. There are very few mosques at which to worship, although new political thought in France has been focused on attempting to create a “French Islam” in an effort to curb fundamentalism; they are not legally able to get married in France unless they are citizens; and there are some restrictions on their dress and behavior, seen with the banning of Muslim headscarves in public schools and the crackdowns on Muslim fundamentalists.

Recently the group has faced repressive actions by the French government. Many Muslims of Algerian descent have been arrested on the assumption that they are in France to plan and carry out terrorist activity in association with the conflict in Algeria. There have also been reports of police beating Muslims while in custody. For example, in 2000 a controversy arose when a well-known Muslim comedian was assaulted by racist police officers after being stopped for a traffic violation. Also, most notably, France, in 2004, enacted a new law in which those preaching violence, discrimination or hatred could be deported. This led to the deportation of a number of imams. While the law doesn’t specifically target Muslims, Imams have been the ones found in violation of the law and consequently deported (REPGENCIV04-06 = 3). In addition to government repression, the group also faces intercommunal violence. In 2000 and 2006 there was violence between Muslims and Jews in France and in 2001 a Mosque was burned down by racists, assumed to be supporters of France's ultra-nationalistic right-wing parties. Muslims also face violence in Corsica in addition to the mainland. In 2004, Corsican separatists fired upon the door of an Imam on the island. He was able to escape the attack without injury (INTERCON00-06 = 1).

As mentioned the group is not cohesive and as a result there are a variety of organizations operating in France which represent the Muslims. A variety of Maghrébin associations, Beur associations (name given to children born in France of North African non-citizens) and Islamic associations pressure the French government on their behalf. The countries of North Africa do not appear to try to help those who choose to leave for France in any way. It is also important to note that while there are several terrorist organizations in France whose members are non-citizen Muslims, they are groups interested in the politics of North Africa, specifically Algeria. These groups are not concerned with those Muslims who have come to France for economic opportunities, and are therefore not included in the list of organizations. The Muslims’ main demand is to be integrated further into the French society. They would like greater political power, and equal civil rights, both of which would be provided through full citizenship, although social exclusion would also need to be addressed. Due to their low economic standing in the country, there are demands for greater economic opportunities and higher wages. For this demand to be met the discrimination against the group which is imposed by a large proportion of the French citizenry would have to be eliminated. It is also difficult in that the group is allowed to come to France specifically because they will take jobs that the French people will not accept. Finally the Muslims would like greater freedom of religion and to a lesser extent promotion of their culture. These final demands do not appear to be as important as the first set.

Protest by the group began in the late 1960s (PROT65X = 3), and levels have remained fairly constant since that time. The level of protest rarely changes, and when it does it tends to be less than the level found in the 1960s (PROT98X = 2), usually not reaching the status of a full demonstration. Protests by the Muslims in France have continued through to today (PROT04, 06 = 3). In 2005, France faced three weeks of nightly rioting by those in the banlieues, who were mostly immigrant Muslims from North Africa. Tired of discrimination in the workplace and high levels of poverty, these riots, beginning in and around Paris would spread throughout France and last three weeks (PROT05 = 4). In 1995 and 1996, there were reports of minor militant activity (REB95-96 = 1), consisting of a series of small bomb blasts. The only recorded rebellion beyond 1996, thus far, was during the 2005 riots in which police were targeted by rioters (REB05 = 1).

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References

Derderian, Richard L. North Africans in Contemporary France: Becoming Visible. Palgrave MacMillan: New York, 2004.

De Wenden, Catherine Wihtol "Immigrants as Political Actors in France" West European Politics, April 1994, 17(23), pp. 91-109.

Ireland, Patrick, The Policy Challenge of Ethnic Diversity: Immigrant Politics in France and Switzerland, Cambridge: Harvard U. Press, 1994.

« La France Face à ses musulmans: émeutes, jihadisme et dépolitisation. » International Crisis Group. Rapport Europe n. 172. 9 Mar. 2006

Laurence Jonathan et Justin Vaisse. Integrating Islam : Political and REligious Challenges in Contemporary France. Brookings Institution Press, Washington, DC, 2006.

Lexis/Nexis: Reuters, 1985-2006.

Weil Patrick "Immigration and the Rise of Racism in France: Contradictions in Mitterand's Policies" French Politics and Society, 1991, 9(3-4), pp. 82-100.

Trends in International Migration, OCDE, Paris, 1992.

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