INTEGRATION OR ASSIMILATION? THE IMMIGRATION POLICY OF FRANCE

Abstract

In France, the terms «nationality» and «citizenship» are the same, not only legally, but also linguistically. This tradition is the perception of the nation as a nation state, and as such, citizenship is granted to all modern members of the international community. Whilst the flow of immigration was dominated by foreigners of European origin, France, in accordance with the positions of traditional republicanism did not set prerequisites relating towards integration, relying on its powerful assimilation potential. Global world processes and the consequences of decolonization in North Africa led to a massive influx of immigrants in the 1970s, Algerians, Moroccans, Tunisians and other North Africans migrated to mainland France, and which immigrants not only failed to assimilate, but also didn't integrate and instead created their own subcultures and parallel societies in the suburbs of big cities. The author analyses how well France is coping with the task of accepting these «visible» minorities, which were particularly evident in the structure of French immigration. The author explores the reasons of the rise of anti-Islamism and anti-Arabism, on the one hand, and the anti-discrimination legislative measures taken on the other. Particular attention is given to the historical roots of ignoring public opinion in France relative to the issue of integration of ethnic and religious minorities. French legislation increasingly attempts to regulate the legal channels in reducing the influx of immigrants into the country, based on tightening the criteria with relative provisions of integration and acceptance into the labour market. The problem of effective immigration policies and the need of various government agencies to work with immigrants, refugees and other categories of foreign nationals in the country has become an important part of the political discourse of French society, which once again was confirmed in the recent campaign on elections to the European Parliament and its subsequent results.