De facto segregation in France

France's colonies in Africa provided General de Gaulle with enormous resources and manpower to fight Hitler's Germany on the understanding that at the end of the war France would grant them independence. Unfortunately, that promise was not kept. For France, it took 16 years of bitter colonial wars and millions of deaths to dissolve its empire. As the process of decolonisation accelerated, hundreds of thousands of refugees from these former colonies flooded into France. The majority of these refugees were of European extraction but not all. Many of them were natives of these colonies, particularly Algeria, who had fought on behalf of France in its colonial armies. After the independence of Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria, successive waves of Muslim North Africans came to France to rebuild the country's infra-structure and factories. They worked hard, lived in government-owned poor housing estates like the ones in northern Paris and above all, did not place too many demands on the system. They were first generation immigrants -- happy to work and survive in a foreign land. After almost fifty years their lot has not changed much except that their cramped housing estates have now degenerated into ghettos which smell of decay and neglect. Their children and grandchildren have become part of a permanent underclass who, although were born in France and do not speak any other language except French, are socially excluded and have hardly any access to the job market. They have, in effect, become totally segregated and marginalised.

After 9/11, Islam has been singled out as a radical religion and anybody with a Muslim name is treated by the police as a suspected terrorist. No one knows the exact number of Muslims living in France. According to some estimates, it can be as high as six million, i.e., approximately 10 percent of the total population. Any census based on race, creed, colour, or religion is prohibited in France by law because apparently it goes against the republican principles of "liberty, equality, and fraternity." Under the law, every citizen is French and enjoys equal rights and obligations. This is the theory, which no doubt, is a noble one. But in practice, things are quite different. Unlike Britain, where ethnic minorities are amply represented in every walk of life, in France, despite their huge number, it is difficult to find their presence in the professions, in politics, in the military, and in any significant position in the media. When I mentioned this phenomenon to my French colleagues, they seemed to be completely unaware of this apparent imbalance. It highlights the hypocrisy of the French elite, who, in their chauvinistic insularity often tend to ignore reality. On the one hand, the government bans Muslim headscarf in public schools because it apparently goes against the republican principles, yet on the other hand it does not take any action against employers who discriminate against Muslim youths by not inviting them for interviews after seeing their Muslim names on the CVs.

The French Muslim teenagers have little respect for their unemployed fathers because of their diminished status in the family hierarchy. School dropout rate among them is unacceptably high. Most of the time, they find themselves in the unenviable situation of having no jobs, no hopes and plenty of idle time in hand. They have nothing to do but to hang about in the streets. It makes them feel alienated, angry, and frustrated. Worse still, under the government's get tough policy they are routinely and unnecessarily harassed by the insensitive police, which unlike Britain is composed entirely of pink-skinned Frenchmen, who do not hide their disdain for the dark-skinned children and grandchildren of France's former colonial subjects. No wonder, the youngsters bear a profound sense of grievance. Even the interior minister Mr. Sarkozy went so far as to refer to them as "scum" which, no doubt, was unnecessarily provocative. (The irony is that Sarkozy himself is the son of a first-generation Hungarian immigrant.) So the situation was explosive enough for a sudden and spontaneous outburst of violence. It simply needed a spark to ignite it.

Muslim teen-agers from Clichy-sous-Bois, a barrio of Seine-St. Denis usually get together on Thursday afternoons to play football. After their usual game of football on October 27, when they were returning home to join their families for Iftar, some were stopped by the police, apparently for a random identity check. Six of them were detained. Two escaped. As the police chased them, they jumped the fence of an electrical sub-station where they accidentally died of electrocution. This was the spark which touched off the worst riots in France since the student-led riots of 1968. The riots soon spread first to other suburbs in the periphery of Paris and then to dozens of towns across France. While the rioting has now abated, sporadic arson attacks are still continuing. Besides the destruction of millions of dollars worth of properties and the arrest of 1,500 people, most of whom are Muslim youths, the riots have completely shattered the French myth of liberty, equality, and fraternity for all its citizens. They have exposed the fact that "some are more free and equal than others." So the question now is: how can France deal with the problem?

First of all, it is vital for France to face the facts and recognise that ethnic and religious minorities do exist in France and that it has become a land of widespread prejudice and bigotry masked behind a universalistic idealism. The government should realise that these millions of Muslim men, women and children will not disappear. They are there to stay. A policy of affirmative action is required to compensate for decades of neglect. Despite Sarkozy's tough police measures and talk, he is the only politician who is backing a policy of affirmative action. Education is the best means for social and economic progress. Better schools and more scholarships for bright Muslim youths will equip them better to compete in the job market. The best way to get youngsters off the streets is to get them into jobs. The state can set an example by giving them jobs in the civil service and in the military because in France, the state itself is a huge employer. It should pass anti-discriminatory laws for employment in the private sector. Cheap loans should be granted to young entrepreneurs to set up their own businesses. In fact, Muslim youngsters have become so frustrated with job hunting that many of them have resorted to this avenue i.e., setting up their own little businesses to get out of the rut. Encourage them to buy their own homes. Thus they will have a stake in the society. There is a fundamental need for the emergence of a Muslim middle class, whose members will serve as role models for the frustrated youngsters. The police force should represent the racial composition of the society today. Unnecessary harassment only produces animosity towards them and the society at large whom they represent.

Therefore, there is a need for improved police training. The police must learn to reach out to the community. The recent rioting had nothing to do with religious or ideological concerns. The youngsters were making a statement of pent-up frustration and anger. This was also a despairing cry for help. It is time to pay heed to them before it is too late. In this context, what Justice Leslie Scarman recommended after an inquiry into the Brixton (London) riots in 1981 is relevant: "Urgent action is needed if it is not to become an endemic, ineradicable disease, threatening the very survival of our society."