Before the current French President Emmanuel Macron entered the Élysée Palace, field studies conducted by the “Montaigne Institute” revealed that the voter turnout in the poor suburbs for the 2017 presidential elections reached 48% compared to 29% nationwide.
This percentage was considered a natural reflection of a deep crisis of trust in those areas vis-à-vis the authorities, due to the failure of successive policies towards the majority originating from immigrant backgrounds in those neighborhoods.
The French are awaiting how this dilemma will be addressed, following the rise of the youngest Prime Minister in the history of the republic, Gabriel Attal originating from immigrant backgrounds, who is regarded as one of the closest associates to President Macron and a bearer of his banner.
Right-wing Policies
Before assuming office at the Élysée, Attal had already presented reform plans in the Ministry of Education under the banner of “Reducing Social Disparities” in educational institutions, proposing the reintroduction of official school uniforms. This measure was to be implemented on a trial basis in around 500 volunteer schools to assess its impact on the success of the academic year.
However, observers believe that the most challenging test for Attal will be related to his ability to bridge the stark disparities between the social situations in the suburbs and the rest of France.
While the Prime Minister was expected to inject a dose of revitalization into left-wing slogans and values, his public policy speech did not shy away from right-wing gestures, even speaking their language to some extent.
This included his remarks regarding defending the “French identity and pride” and implementing broader measures to control the system and “contain the lost youth,” going further to discuss “deviance” as a criterion for change at the highest government level in France by 2024.
Unemployment Benefits
Following a step to reform job security – among the social reforms enacted at the end of 2021, which included tightening restrictions on the use of unemployment benefits by job seekers – Attal aims to go further by reviewing the unemployment benefits calculation process for job seekers. Beneficiaries of social grants are now required to engage in professional activities and receive training for a minimum of 15 hours per week.
The government has already launched a platform for registering beneficiaries of these grants at the beginning of 2024, linking it to the new conditions. Consequently, receiving social benefits for the unemployed and job seekers will no longer be automatic but will follow a new contractual form with the state, a demand often put forward by the far right in the past.
The government states that the aim of this move is to pave the way for reintegrating into the job market because social benefits will not be sufficient for individuals to live outside the circle of necessity.
However, in practice, this measure is seen as a blow aimed at the poor neighborhoods in the suburbs or the “priority neighborhoods,” as they are called, given that a quarter of these areas benefit from the “active social solidarity income,” which is almost double the national average rate.
Significant Disparities
The issue is not only linked to dwindling job opportunities but these areas already suffer from prevalent income disparities compared to other regions in France.
The French statistics platform “Statista” describes the suburbs as a social divide and a mirror reflecting the absence of social justice.
Its aggregated data highlights a clear gap in the average income level of €1168 per individual in the suburbs compared to €1822 at the national level, a poverty rate of over 43% in the suburbs compared to 15% nationally, and an unemployment rate of over 18% in the suburbs compared to 7% at the national level.
Sociology researcher at the University of Paris, Michel Kokoreff, tells “Ournews” network that there is a kind of racial barrier in France despite its reputation as a human rights state and the birthplace of the Declaration of Human Rights, the rule of law, democracy, and so forth.
Kokoreff cites an example in his comments, saying, “In reality, finding a job when your name is Bobak or of Malian origin is much more complicated than if your name were Bernard and you were born in Brittany. It is a country of equality on paper, inequality and injustice in reality.”
Social Indicators
In parallel with changes in the government apparatus and the policies announced with the new Prime Minister, official institutions have not delayed in presenting social indicators, particularly focusing on the situation in the suburbs.
Data from the statistical department under the Ministry of the Interior shows an increase in all types of crimes and misdemeanors committed in the country in 2023.
Assault crimes rose by 7%, while rape and attempted rape crimes increased by about 10%. Homicide and attempted homicide crimes have been on the rise since 2020, with the number of victims of these crimes surpassing a thousand last year, while over 4,000 people have been subject to attempted murder.
Although theft and sexual violence crimes on public transport decreased in 2023, the Interior Ministry noted that the majority of offenders of these crimes are aged between 15 and 24.
Concurrently, thefts targeting industrial and commercial establishments tripled, and car theft cases increased by 27%.
Suburban Concerns
The biggest concern for the French authorities remains the situation in the suburbs, posing the greatest challenge for the new Prime Minister.
Referring to the events following the killing of the young man of Algerian descent, Nail, by a policeman in the city of Nanterre, deliberate riots and vandalism by protesters angered with the suburban youth increased by 140% between June and July 2023 compared to the same period the previous year.
These protests compelled the authorities to deploy around 45,000 gendarmes to maintain order.
There is a fear that these indicators from the Ministry of the Interior are a prelude to a more radical policy towards more than 5.2 million inhabitants of the impoverished suburbs, with further restrictions on immigrants in general under the pressure of the far right.
Adding Fuel to the Fire
In his conversation with Al Jazeera Net, Abdel-Majid Merari, a lawyer specializing in international law and director of the Middle East and North Africa department at the “FIDH” human rights organization in Paris, clarified that Attal’s appointment does not send a reassuring message to these areas, nor does it indicate the government’s desire for reconciliation with a part of the French people, even if they are of immigrant origins but active citizens in several vital sectors and senior positions in the country.
This human rights activist did not hesitate to describe this appointment as pouring oil on the fire.
Merari points to Attal’s hardline positions on immigration and the Muslim minority in addition to steps taken to reform the education sector, including the controversial ban on the veil in schools under the pretext of “protecting secularism.”
He tells Al Jazeera Net, “These reforms have proven their bankruptcy. With the succession of strikes in the sector, reflecting the ongoing crisis. His declared positions in his new position could ignite a social war.”
Attal, in his declaration on public policy, pledged to enforce authority “everywhere, in the classroom, the family, and the streets,” announcing his intention to establish educational penalties aimed at minors with criminal records, which will involve performing “services” for society. Similarly, there will be a similar step towards the parents of minors “who evade their obligations.”
Merari returns to these reforms and plans as an extension of right-wing policies that characterized the draft reform of the immigration law, affirming that “the reforms in the immigration law project have shown that they do not align with the constitution and the values of the republic. They will not solve the problems of the French people.”
Although the Constitutional Council has already expressed reservations about about a third of the controversial immigration law project, the Attal government will likely continue with plans to reduce compensation for unemployment benefits and social assistance and review healthcare coverage rights.
Reform Intentions
These plans are not compatible with the government’s declared intentions for years to allocate investments of up to €12 billion until 2030 to improve the living standards in the suburbs.
In this regard, the director of the Arab Center for Western Studies in Paris, Ahmed el-Sheikh, tells Al Jazeera Net, “The most dangerous aspect of the immigration law is that it diverts the French society from its real problems and thinking about ways to solve them. This law and others are linked to political conflict.”
Sheikh continues in his observation, “The migration problems are being exploited and utilized for purposes transcending the issue of migration and immigrants who are ultimately sacrificial lambs twice: first when they fled their homelands under the pressure of despotic regimes supported by European countries, and the second time when they are used to cover up the real problems that plague French and European societies, gradually distancing them from the values of freedom, equality, and brotherhood, human rights, and even rationality.”
