6.4 Migration and Borders: La migration et les frontières 🚶↔️🚶

2 min read•november 23, 2021

Claire Duggan

AP French 🇫🇷

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Migration and Borders: La migration et les frontières🚶↔️🚶

Image Courtesy of Pixabay

According to the United Nations 🇺🇳, a migrant is "any person who is moving or has moved across an international border or within a State." People may choose to migrate in search of work or economic opportunities, but others are forced to leave their homeland due to conflict, natural disasters, and persecution, among other reasons. 70 million people were forcibly displaced in 2018. Within this number, there were 26 million refugees, 3.5 million asylum seekers, and more than 41 million internally displaced persons.

Information gathered from the United Nations.

Strive for Five Vocabulary 🔑

Frontière - border
Réfugié - refugee
Demandeur d'asile - asylum seeker
Déplacé interne - internally displaced person

Immigration in France: L'immigration en France 🇫🇷

Immigration in France has been influenced by the country's colonial history. Throughout the last century, there has been a steady increase in immigration into France, which has had an impact on French society.

In terms of economics, immigration in France has been regarded as a success. However, over more recent decades, immigration has increasingly been seen as a root of social problems in the country. Immigration policies in France, as well as in other European countries, have steadily become more restrictive. Admission into the country has become more controlled, and the integration of second- and third-generation descendants has become more central to policy-making.

Information gathered from Focus Migration.

Of particular note:

Unlike in the United States 🇺🇸, the French government does not track ethnic origins. This is due to the French viewpoint that the retention of ethnic identity is an obstacle to both integration and national identity.
The wearing of headscarves 🧕, or any religious symbols ✡️ ✝️, in public schools is not allowed. This is due to the viewpoint that these are incompatible with French secularist values.
In the French census, nationality is tracked and organized into three categories: a) French by birth 👶, b) French by acquisition, and c) Foreigners.

Information gathered from Migration Policy Institute.

Strive for Five Vocabulary 🔑