“The State cannot do everything.” Introduced by Lionel Jospin, then Prime Minister of cohabitation, the formula, which sounds like resignation, is celebrating its quarter century this year. However, at a time when the failures of the State are constantly being singled out, the aphorism has never seemed to have such resonance with current events. Deterioration of public services, difficulty maintaining order… The grievances are legion. But in recent years, the most lively debates have crystallized around the question of managing migratory flows. The 2024 immigration law provides for a tightening of language criteria, among others. The Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, has already announced a new immigration law for the beginning of 2025.
Despite a toughening up on the issue, France continues to be open about requests that fall within the framework of the right to asylum. Last year, more than 60,800 asylum seekers obtained refugee status (out of 167,056, up 7.22% compared to 2022), even if according to information obtained by L’Express from the French Office of Immigration and Integration (Ofii), for 2024, applications will be rather down compared to previous years. The total number of refugees in France today stands at 660,000. This is almost six times more than in 2007.
A real challenge for public authorities who are struggling to find the means to integrate these new arrivals. “We immediately understood that the State alone would not be able to manage so many arrivals, so we initiated an aid program for refugees by providing both financial and material support to the associations,” explains Isabelle Giordano, manager sponsorship of the Group and General Delegate of the BNP Paribas Foundation. For her, there is no doubt: the private sector must take up the issue of refugee integration. “They are in France, and many of them want to stay there. We simply have to give them the means to do so in good conditions.”
Learn the language and master the codes
Integration is organized around two components: learning French and the professional integration of refugees. With the immigration law adopted at the beginning of 2024, the rules are about to change. While diligently following language courses was until now sufficient to obtain a residence permit, this will now be conditional on passing an A2 level language test. A higher level of requirements, which implies a greater commitment to learning, while the structures are not legion.
For Didier Leschi, director general of Ofii, this requirement is essential: “Any measure that moves towards alignment with the rest of our European neighbors is progress in terms of integration, for the simple reason that France is late on this theme,” he believes. Especially since, according to him, more than 10% of refugees are non-readers and non-writers when they arrive in France, “which complicates learning French”.
But for the head of the French Office for Immigration and Integration, learning the language alone is “a thousand miles” from being sufficient. “Refugees must simultaneously integrate the social codes of French society.” A well-understood imperative of the Pierre Claver association, which since its creation in 2008 has taken the gamble of depriving itself of direct financial support from the State. “We did not want to burden public spending, on the contrary, we wanted to support the national effort on the issue of welcoming refugees,” explains Ayyam Sureau, president and co-founder of Pierre Claver.
The refugee aid organization opened a first class of 15 students from around the world last September in partnership with the world leader in construction, Vinci. Arzo, a 23-year-old Afghan who benefits from the program, says: “In my country, women cannot study, work, and recently, no longer even have the right to speak. I am learning the French, because I want to stay in France to work there.”
A class of refugees at the heart of the company
In this new and innovative program, teachers, mentors and speakers are none other than employees of the construction giant. During their working time, employees give courses, lead workshops, and advise young refugees. A first of this type in France. “While it is not uncommon for large companies to provide material and financial support to associations, it is unprecedented for a company to invest by directly mobilizing human resources at their location and during their working day to welcome refugees”, underlines Priscille Dargnies, co-founder of the ENT.RE program.
The program takes place over five months, and is made up of four weekly workshops in addition to a French class: on current events, regional particularities, gastronomy and a course on French humor and its specificities and nuances. “We is convinced that, to feel part of a country, it is very important to understand its common cultural glue so as not to feel this gap which can isolate a foreigner”, argues Priscille Dargnies. In addition to Vinci, three other economic leaders are in the running to open a class in partnership with the Pierre Claver association: Aéroports de Paris (ADP), EDF and AXA.
The French insurance flagship is one of the companies whose project is the most successful. “For the moment, we are limited to providing scholarships so that Pierre Claver’s students can enroll at university, but we would like to be able to combine this financial and material support with more concrete help by opening a class “, confirms Juliette Prieur, in charge of patronage and voluntary commitment of employees at AXA. Last year, two interns from the Pierre Claver school were integrated into teams. “I am convinced that these links with the business world are a key factor for the sustainable integration of refugees,” insists Ulrike Decoene, Director of Communication, Brand and Sustainable Development of the AXA Group.
The Syrian crisis, real awareness
The French economic world’s first steps in helping refugees date back to 2015. With the intensification of the conflict in Syria, the Old Continent is experiencing a massive influx of new arrivals. Quickly, the coastal states to which the migrants arrive – Greece, Italy – find themselves submerged. In Brussels, we only talk about the migration “crisis”. “No one expected asylum requests, all services were congested, and the waiting time was extremely long,” remembers Ayyam Sureau, director of the Pierre Claver association.
The BNP Paribas Foundation, for its part, has supported around thirty associations and organizations established in 11 European countries and participates in the financing of programs initiated by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, the Apprentis d’Auteuil association or Simplon again. It is in particular this start-up specializing in apprenticeship and professional training which set up Refugeeks, an eight-week training course interwoven with French courses and digital training. The goal? Eliminate the seeds of a digital divide between immigrants and nationals, an obstacle to the creation of a curriculum vitae, to the search for a job and therefore to professional integration which constitutes the keystone of the integration of refugees .
A transnational impulse
The stakes are so high that an international forum is organized by the United Nations Refugee Agency every four years in Geneva, Switzerland. For three days, conferences, round tables and debates revolve around the role of private actors in the reception and integration of immigrants. In 2023, the 4,200 participants signed some 1,600 commitments to support refugees. Of the 2.2 billion dollars put on the table, 250 million comes from the private sector. But “beyond financial support, companies can play a role in deconstructing the prejudices attached to refugees”, believes Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, president of France Terre d’Asile and of the strategic council of the Tent Foundation, which raises awareness of private to the theme of integration.
Since its creation in 2016, the Tent Foundation network has swelled its ranks with 400 large companies, including L’Oréal, Sodexo, Allianz, Barilla, Carrefour, Lidl, Suez, and TotalEnergies. By joining the Tent Foundation, each of these entities is committed to removing barriers to refugee recruitment. A guarantee that goes from adapting the recruitment process to those of the required conditions, including raising awareness among the teams in place. The French multinational Suez, for example, has trained and hired around a hundred refugees since it joined the network, according to the boss of France Terre d’Asile.
The integration of refugees, a “lace” job
In addition, it was notably during a summit organized by the NGO Tent Partnership for Refugees last June in Paris that around forty companies committed to training and hiring some 250,000 refugees within three years. “Each time refugees have been integrated into teams, the result has been clear: the initiative has had an extremely positive impact internally and within the teams,” underlines Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, together with Isabelle Giordano , general delegate of the BNP Paribas Foundation: “Refugees integrate very well and are generally employees who are very attached to the company that gave them a chance.”
The integration of refugees nevertheless remains a real painstaking task. “We are constantly making lace, while Europe has nearly 900,000 asylum seekers on its soil,” sighs Didier Leschi, director of Ofii. Because although there are many professions in shortage, they require, if not a high level of qualifications, a minimum of skills. “Even in construction, workers must be able to read safety instructions,” points out Didier Leschi, whose organization has provided some 12 million hours of lessons to more than 128,000 refugees who signed the integration contract. Republican. “However, we must continue to encourage companies to invest in the integration of refugees who they can then potentially hire,” insists Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, who assures her: there is no better integration accelerator than work in a company.
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