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Paris- Sporting events in general, andOlympic Games In particular, a political dimension in its host country, and in France, the controversial immigration law has revived the conversation about irregular migrants, who work on the construction sites of this event expected next July.
In an attempt to pressure the government to withdraw the law, before the Constitutional Council’s decision was announced on January 25, representatives from the Proud France party and trade unions said that the 2024 Paris Olympics would be boycotted if the immigration law was passed.
Although employing a foreigner without a work permit is a crime, this is a reality experienced by a large number of unregistered immigrants. Figures from the French Ministry of the Interior indicate that there are approximately 700,000 irregular people in the country, and this does not mean that they are not necessarily working.
“No papers…no Olympics”
At the invitation of more than 400 associations, unions and political parties, the largest French cities witnessed mass demonstrations on Sunday against the immigration law, demanding its withdrawal and continuing pressure on the Constitutional Council.
The French MP from the “Proud France” party, Andy Crebrat, renewed his opposition to this law, which he described as “racist and cruel” against foreigners “whom we bring and exploit to work in order to preserve France’s attractiveness and splendor at the international level, which we need at any cost, during the Paris Olympics.” But they are being mistreated by French company owners.”
In his interview with Al Jazeera Net, Crebrat explained, “The demand to regularize the status of migrants started from the Olympic Games projects, where we were able to achieve victory and regularize the status of 20 migrants in the Saint-Denis region, and 200 people in total, after the strike and the closure of their construction site.”
The French MP pointed out that there are at least 300,000 unregistered workers in the Ile-de-France region, and one out of every two cleaning workers and one out of every three babysitters are irregular workers, while the numbers of immigrants working in Olympic Games work remain… Unspecified, Karbarat confirmed that it may reach about 100,000 people.
The MP denounced the timing of introducing this law, as “the French people are suffering from the repercussions of high inflation rates and people are dying in the streets,” pledging to boycott this sporting event if the law is passed. He added, “The government is using the immigrant file as a safety valve and an open door that gives company owners access to cheap labor.” “Only when there is a need.”
According to the Directorate of Research, Studies and Statistics (DARES) of the Ministry of Labor, construction professions represent the third sector of migrant activity at 27%, after domestic workers 39% and guards and security personnel 28%.
The strike…a pressure card
In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, Gerald Reh, Secretary Responsible for Migrant Activities at the General Labor Union (CGT), said, “Among our means of pressure is communicating with unregistered workers and showing the reality of their hard working conditions.”
The same spokesman explained that since October 17, about 500 workers in the Ile-de-France region have gone on strike in the field of logistics, waste collection, and construction sites in order to have their rights recognized. A demonstration was previously organized on December 1 near The Arena de la Porte de Chapelle stadium is under construction, to demand a collective settlement of workers’ conditions.
Although they contribute greatly to the French economy, the government wants to punish immigrants through this law, because “the governor will have the power to sentence every immigrant to life or death, by withdrawing the residence permit and pronouncing the decision to leave French territory,” according to the spokesman.
The Collective of International Solidarity and Citizen Mobilization Organizations (CRID) published a statement in which it condemned the “exploitative machine” represented by immigration policies and the “double game” practiced by the government. On the one hand, it attacks and criminalizes migrants, and on the other hand, they are used in essential sectors and building Olympic Games spaces.
In general, the percentage of active immigrants – whether employed or unemployed – between the ages of 15 and 64 years is 70%, compared to 74% of people who do not have direct immigrant origins and 67% of descendants of immigrants, according to a study conducted by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. (Insee).
Olympics by immigrants
Last June, the testimonies of these workers were published in the French media, after ten of them – most of them from Mali and the Congo – went to the labor court in the “Bobigny” region, on the outskirts of Paris, where contractors and 4 giants of construction companies (Vinci, Evage, and Spee) were summoned. Patignolle, JCC).
After they were able to regularize their situation thanks to the assistance of the General Labor Union (CGT), they shed light on the conditions suffered by immigrants on Olympic construction sites, which contributed to opening a thorny file that these companies were trying to cover up.
As a reminder, undocumented immigrants do not receive employment contracts, paid vacations, overtime allowance, transportation, or food. Most of them are forced to purchase special equipment to be able to complete work, in addition to the many risks resulting from work accidents that lead to injuries or even deaths.
Some local media reported on the death of a worker last March at the Grand Paris Express construction site, a project that is undergoing a very fast pace of work to be completed before the Olympics.
In this context, representatives of the trade unions pointed the finger at what they described as the “hypocrisy” of the French authorities and the role of subcontractors in employing these workers with meager salaries in full view of everyone.
According to the Vals Circular Decree of 2012, a foreigner who works in an irregular situation for a company in France can apply for exceptional admission to reside in the province in which he is located, and to achieve this, a filled out Cerfa document must be issued. It is signed by the employer to prove his professional activity. Then the decision remains with the governor, who will choose between settling the foreigner’s status or rejecting it.
Battle against the far right
Under the slogan “Macron’s law, Darmanin’s law, we don’t want it,” French cities are expected – tomorrow, Sunday – to receive huge numbers of demonstrators, French and foreign, to denounce the immigration law.
The French MP confirmed – in his speech to Al Jazeera Net – that the law “expresses the ideas and tendencies of the right only, and for this reason we reject its components and articles that seek to implement the national preference for social, medical and other assistance, and these are proposals demanded by the first extreme right-wing man in France.” Joan Marie Luban“.
“The government does not want to be aware of the dangers of the asylum journey in the Mediterranean, human trafficking and violence, and when the migrants arrive they are subjected to mistreatment by the French state,” Crebrat added.
Gerald Ré considered that there is “a clear political will aimed at expelling immigrants, even though their countries of origin may not be able to receive them, which means that we will find more irregular immigrants who cannot be deported or even transited into France.”
Criticizing the French government’s policy, Ray said that it faces great difficulty in “passing a certain number of reforms, and the absence of any legal procedure aimed at settling the situation of these workers, in a simple or automatic way.”
He continued, “The government wants to divert public opinion from reforming the pension system – which we strongly reject – to preoccupy itself with attacking immigration, to obtain broader support from the people, by adopting the ideas of the right and the extreme right, or nationals who support racist and xenophobic tendencies.”
