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08-27-2006, 02:46 PM
French immigration numbers jump, Africans lead way
Fri Aug 25, 2006 8:53 AM GMT
By Anna Willard
PARIS (Reuters) - Immigration to France has soared in the past five years mostly because of arrivals from Africa, according to a report on Thursday that could fuel debate ahead of the presidential election.
Immigration is expected to be a major campaign issue in the run up to next year's poll after riots last year in many areas housing large migrant populations.
According to national statistics office INSEE there were 4.9 million immigrants residing in France in mid-2004, roughly 8.1 percent of the population, up from 4.3 million in 1999.
In 1990 the immigrant population was put at 4.2 million, suggesting the rate of new arrivals has accelerated.
Immigrants from sub-Saharan African countries appeared to lead the charge, with their numbers jumping 45 percent between 1999 and 2004 to 570,000.
The number of immigrants from North African countries rose to 1.5 million, up 220,000 from 1999.
INSEE classifies an immigrant as someone who lives in France and may hold French nationality, but was born abroad. Two million immigrants had French nationality in mid-2004.
The INSEE report said four out of ten immigrants lived in the Paris region, where the riots began last October.
Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, the conservative presidential frontrunner, responded to that violence with a crackdown on illegal immigration and a controversial new law to enable France to select the foreigners it wanted to welcome.
Earlier this month police cleared hundreds of people from France's biggest squat, including some immigrants that Sarkozy said did not have the right to residency in France.
The Socialist presidential favourite, Segolene Royal, criticised the evacuation as a publicity stunt, and said many of the occupants were doing menial jobs that long-standing French residents did not want.
At the other end of the political spectrum, Jean-Marie Le Pen's far-right National Front party said the INSEE report showed that "France's national identity was at risk".
France's largest immigrant population was European Union citizens, steady at 1.7 million compared to 1999 levels. A drop in the number of Italian and Spanish residents was balanced by arrivals from other countries such as Britain and Portugal.
Forty-five thousand British people lived in France, INSEE said, many taking advantage of cheaper house prices, better weather and the continental lifestyle.
There were 250,000 immigrants from eastern European countries outside of the European Union, a rise of 37 percent.
That echoed the trend in neighbouring Britain, where official figures showed on Thursday the population is expanding at its quickest rate since the mid-1960s thanks to immigration from eastern Europe.
Outside Europe and Africa, the Turkish immigrant population in France was the next largest, accounting for 4 percent of all immigrants.
The report said four times as many immigrants held higher education diplomas than in 1982 and it found that the immigrant population had not aged between 1999 and 2004-2005 in contrast to the non-immigrant population.
http://za.today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-08-25T065400Z_01_BAN524815_RTRIDST_0_OZATP-FRANCE-IMMIGRATION-20060825.XML
Fri Aug 25, 2006 8:53 AM GMT
By Anna Willard
PARIS (Reuters) - Immigration to France has soared in the past five years mostly because of arrivals from Africa, according to a report on Thursday that could fuel debate ahead of the presidential election.
Immigration is expected to be a major campaign issue in the run up to next year's poll after riots last year in many areas housing large migrant populations.
According to national statistics office INSEE there were 4.9 million immigrants residing in France in mid-2004, roughly 8.1 percent of the population, up from 4.3 million in 1999.
In 1990 the immigrant population was put at 4.2 million, suggesting the rate of new arrivals has accelerated.
Immigrants from sub-Saharan African countries appeared to lead the charge, with their numbers jumping 45 percent between 1999 and 2004 to 570,000.
The number of immigrants from North African countries rose to 1.5 million, up 220,000 from 1999.
INSEE classifies an immigrant as someone who lives in France and may hold French nationality, but was born abroad. Two million immigrants had French nationality in mid-2004.
The INSEE report said four out of ten immigrants lived in the Paris region, where the riots began last October.
Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, the conservative presidential frontrunner, responded to that violence with a crackdown on illegal immigration and a controversial new law to enable France to select the foreigners it wanted to welcome.
Earlier this month police cleared hundreds of people from France's biggest squat, including some immigrants that Sarkozy said did not have the right to residency in France.
The Socialist presidential favourite, Segolene Royal, criticised the evacuation as a publicity stunt, and said many of the occupants were doing menial jobs that long-standing French residents did not want.
At the other end of the political spectrum, Jean-Marie Le Pen's far-right National Front party said the INSEE report showed that "France's national identity was at risk".
France's largest immigrant population was European Union citizens, steady at 1.7 million compared to 1999 levels. A drop in the number of Italian and Spanish residents was balanced by arrivals from other countries such as Britain and Portugal.
Forty-five thousand British people lived in France, INSEE said, many taking advantage of cheaper house prices, better weather and the continental lifestyle.
There were 250,000 immigrants from eastern European countries outside of the European Union, a rise of 37 percent.
That echoed the trend in neighbouring Britain, where official figures showed on Thursday the population is expanding at its quickest rate since the mid-1960s thanks to immigration from eastern Europe.
Outside Europe and Africa, the Turkish immigrant population in France was the next largest, accounting for 4 percent of all immigrants.
The report said four times as many immigrants held higher education diplomas than in 1982 and it found that the immigrant population had not aged between 1999 and 2004-2005 in contrast to the non-immigrant population.
http://za.today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-08-25T065400Z_01_BAN524815_RTRIDST_0_OZATP-FRANCE-IMMIGRATION-20060825.XML