'Welcome' or 'they've overrun us': the French view migrants differently
As reported by RFI, the poll was conducted by the IFOP social service for the newspaper, as well as the Jean Jaurès Foundation analytical center and the American Jewish Committee. The study 'revealed a growing sense of anxiety (among citizens) in the face of the migration phenomenon'. Moreover, this topic is 'increasingly clearly' becoming a cause of deepening 'political division in society', the JDD newspaper states.
'They've overrun us': why the French fear migration
52% of respondents believe that France accepts 'too many foreigners'. Another 27% of French people are sure that there are 'enough' migrants in the country. But how do opponents of migration justify their point of view?
77% fear that a 'too welcoming policy' by the authorities will lead to the country being 'overwhelmed by a wave of migration'. 71% fear that due to cheap foreign labor, French wages will fall. 60% express concerns about problems arising from the fact that the French and migrants have 'different value systems'. 53% mention a 'terrorist threat' from newcomers.
'Welcome': whom the French are ready to accept
And yet the majority of respondents (60%) believe that accepting people who are in danger in their country (i.e., legitimate refugees) is 'France's duty'.
Based on the 'average French person's' ambivalent attitude on this issue, President Macron is trying to shape his migration policy, speaking simultaneously of a 'tough approach' and 'humanism'. The 'tough approach' should apply to 'economic migrants', and 'humanism' to those fleeing war or political persecution.
Nevertheless, the poll shows that the majority of French people 'see no difference' between the migration policy of President Macron and his predecessors – Hollande (54%) and Sarkozy (56%). However, the solutions proposed by the opposition are also not considered convincing by the vast majority of French people.
Exit from Schengen: where the line between right and left lies
In fact, the split in French society caused by differing approaches to the migration problem runs along the line of political preferences.
The poll predictably showed that the 'left' and 'centrists' (including Macron's supporters) are much more favorable towards newcomers than the right and especially the far right. The majority of leftists and centrists also advocate that decisions on migration be made at the EU level, while representatives of the 'bloc' of the right and far right favor a tough 'national approach'.
The tough approach involves banning the principle of 'family reunification', abandoning the so-called 'right of soil' (when a child becomes a citizen of the state on whose territory they were born, regardless of the parents' citizenship), and finally, even leaving the Schengen Agreement.
Moreover, all these measures are supported not only by the vast majority of the far right, but also by a majority of all respondents. 52% of French people favor abolishing the principle of 'family reunification' and abandoning the 'right of soil', 63% favor 'restoring national borders' and leaving Schengen.