WORKSHOP 2 LOCAL BODIES AS ACTORS FOR INTEGRATION SERVICES IN FRANCE

Transcription

1 WORKSHOP 2 LOCAL BODIES AS ACTORS FOR INTEGRATION SERVICES IN FRANCE

2 In France, welcome and integration policies are mainly identified as a national public policy managed by the services of the Ministry of the Interior. This policy isn t delegated as a competence of local authorities; at the regional level this policy is lead by public administrations of the State; however, elected local levels are frequently involved in welcome and integration actions because they are responsible for access to social benefits, the school system et cetera. Up to now, we haven t got a governance system which manages and combines national and local policies.

3 As you know, we have many local levels of administration depending on elected authorities: REGIONS (we now have 26 regions, the overseas regions included, but our National Assembly will soon adopt a law reducing the number to 13 in order to simplify the administration) The region is responsible for training policies, local development and economy, building secondary schools. DEPARTEMENTS (we have 101 with Mayotte) : this elected level is responsible for local social policies and access to social benefits, protection and care of children and minors, social benefits for old and disabled persons et cetera for the whole population, foreign nationals as well as French citizens (if they live in France for more than 3 or 5 years )

4 CITIES and AGGLOMERATIONS (URBAN AREAS) are not obliged to take care of foreigners and new migrants, but actually they do so because they represent the level which is closest to the population (and people live in the towns and suburbs). So cities have implemented voluntary programs and actions for foreigners. I would like to give you some examples of this involvement. Cities have mainly developed actions about the following topics: Foreigners citizenship councils: in order to involve representatives of foreigners associations in local policy; many big cities have established this sort of council; it is the case of Paris, Nantes, Rennes, Grenoble, Strasbourg, Roubaix in the North of France, and many others cities have made this choice; as you know, in France non EU foreigners can t vote at local elections, which would otherwise be a way to include them in the local community.

5 French language courses are very often organized by the cities services or by local social associations or organizations such as social centers which are financed by the municipalities ; these language courses often combine the acquirement of language skills with insight in our country s social values; for example Paris finances this language training at. Information about social, education and basic services is frequently given by means of flyers translated into the main languages spoken by the migrants; Promotion of the memory and history of migrations and also of other cultures is another important topic : cultural festivals, conferences, intercultural events are the principal tools to promote the cultures and the history of migrants and migrations; I would like to give you more details about some local actions which were supported by the former European Integration Found or by national credits.

6 Several local bodies have seen the European Integration Found as an opportunity to develop actions or start new projects for vulnerable categories of migrants like old people and women, and also as an opportunity to facilitate the dispatching of information about social services, education and the health system 3 or 4 examples of these actions: The city of Paris has been financed by EIF in 2012 and 2013 to improve health and social services and develope care actions for old migrants who live in specific residences initially built for young workers in the sixties or seventies ; these buildings are frequently rundown and not adapted to old people s needs ; furthermore these old migrants often don t benefit from their social rights, and in the residence there is only an administrative manager and nobody to take care of their personal needs ; the EIF credits have made it possible to engage 2 welfare workers to develop care actions and make contact with social proximity services ;

7 Montreuil, which is a big suburb situated North of Paris, has also developed this kind of actions for old migrants living in specific and degraded residences, also with support from EIF; this town is known as the second biggest town of Mali after Bamako ; they also finance and organize French language courses because an important part of the town population has arrived to France recently, or they need to learn French for social purposes even if they have been living in France for many years ; like Paris, this town tries to develop contacts between migrants and the native population, using intercultural et social actions, especially for women in social centers. Nantes, which is a regional capital of a big west region has not a very high part of migrant population unlike the two precedents cities but the team municipality has involved since many years a real strategy for welcoming and integration migrants with the different tools they can use: citizenship council for foreigners, training French language, many information medium on social, cultural, health activities and helps very well done and existing in a dozen of languages, etc.

8 They have extended their actions thanks to EIF involving special actions about needs of old migrants people ( specially they realized a very good 30 (thirty) film documentary witch shows individual interviews with migrants from Maghreb, Africa, South Asia, Turkey about their coming in France and about their projects, their family relations etc.) ; they also financed new projects proposed by the citizenship council; this town is also a big port and in the History they were an important center of slave deportation towards America : it is perhaps a part of the explanation to their interest for migrants people and history of immigration; In the south of France and in the Alps Mountains Briançon is the capital of a mountainous and rural department; this town and this territory has a migrant population families and agricultural workers ; a social center which is financed by the municipality and also by the department and the EIF organized many actions to welcome and orientate migrants towards social services; this actions are both individuals and collectives; this association is also an resource center and they have several places and localities where the welcoming is organized in the whole department ;

9 Last example, the town of Saint-Denis de la Réunion (overseas territory) which receive a strong migrant population and the city has been financed by EIF to develop a guichet unique function in order to informe and orientate migrants towards the adapted social services on the territory and to help migrants ton know their rights. These are only a few examples of the implication of local bodies, but there aremany more: between 2011 and 2013 ; 25 local bodies were been financed by the EIF for about 1,5 million (the total actions reach 2,5 millions ) But, obviously, local bodies (mainly cities and departements) spend too much money of their own budgets and social allocations they manage from State found allocated to social insertion, children protection, old and disabled population which benefit also to foreign people if they are residence permit.