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| Europe |
| France 'forming ethnic ghettoes' |
| 2004-07-19 |
| Many French city suburbs are becoming ethnic ghettoes, a report has warned. The study by the French domestic intelligence services found many areas were populated by poor, young French of north African immigrant backgrounds. The report, leaked to Le Monde newspaper, found at least half of the 630 suburbs it looked at had already become separate ethnic communities. The report warned the ghettoes, cut off from mainstream French society, could encourage radical Islam to take root. The intelligence service report deals with an extremely sensitive issue for France: just how bad the sense of alienation has become in the suburbs, among the French-born children of north African immigrant background. Sometimes, besides the withdrawal to the culture of origin and the rejection of Western values, a kind of negative identity is built which mixes the cultures of origin, the values of the public housing projects and rudimentary references to Islam. The report - given to the interior minister, Dominique de Villepin - concludes that the situation is actually worse than previously thought. Of the suburbs studied, the report says at least half could already be called ghettoes, whose inhabitants felt rejected by, and were in turn rejecting, mainstream French society. The areas studied were chosen because they already had problems with unemployment, crime and violence, had a high proportion of immigrant families - some still practising polygamy - plus a growing number of Islamic prayer rooms as well as frequent anti-Western and anti-Semitic graffiti. The intelligence services noted that many families of immigrant origin were rejecting French values and even the French language, following instead more traditional ways of life associated with their ethnic origin - including an increasing religious radicalisation among young Muslims, and a backlash against young Muslim women who wore Western clothing. Better-off families, mainly those of white European origin, were leaving such suburbs, creating an even greater sense of isolation. The report's conclusions will worry the government, although they are not entirely unexpected. For decades, France had hoped that its immigrants and their children would simply integrate into secular French society. Instead, it seems, the opposite has been happening, with the divide becoming ever greater. In an attempt to solve the problems of France's city suburbs, the government has proposed a five-year plan to improve social cohesion - although, as the newspaper Le Monde concludes, it will be a race against time. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #16 Anonymous4617---Fred has done an IP search on what you wanted, as well as a search for the poster you requested on Rantburg. Email him and he will give you the information, or you can email me. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-07-19 10:48:05 PM |
| #15 Bright shining faces and gleaming eat-off-the-sidewalk mini-Utopias... Each connected to the urban area with one, easily sealed-off, roadway (think of the road to Berlin during the Cold War)... |
| Posted by: Pappy 2004-07-19 9:58:19 PM |
| #14 #7 Polygamy should be a disqualification for emigration to any Western country, and if you are found to have more than one wife, you should be immediately deported. Plus the wife and kids, no sense in rewarding anyone for fraud. They can all reapply through conventional channels for proper entry. I think we should be more creative with our entrance requirements. If a Muslim wants to emigrate to the West, he should swear his allegiance to his new country over allegiance to Islam, and do it on a Quran, in Allah's name. That'll keep the numbers low. One would hope, even though permission is given in advance to lie in the name of spreading Islam. Polygamous fundamentalist types aren't going to blush over invoking such a privilege for themselves. Especially when they probably view one man utterly controlling several women as the height of Islamic male dominance. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-07-19 9:34:06 PM |
#13 Many French city suburbs are becoming ethnic ghettoesBecoming? Where have these |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-07-19 8:56:33 PM |
| #12 Did somkebody have a"Daaaa"moment? |
| Posted by: Raptor 2004-07-19 6:49:47 PM |
| #11 Stephen: These impoverished younger French Muslims are often the children of older immigrants who most certainly did have jobs.... with "did" being the operative word. Those jobs no longer exist. It's a familiar pattern, one which can been seen in the United States as well. Take the San Francisco/ Bay Area. In the 1940's and 50's hundreds of thousands of black families moved there to work in the shipyards in Richmond, Oakland, East Palo Alto, and SF's Hunter's Point district. While the shipyards were still active these transplanted communities did pretty well for the most part, but with the end of the Koren War the shipyards mostly closed down leaving the population unemployed. Been to West Oakland lately? Fort Apache, The Bronx indeed. |
| Posted by: Secret Master 2004-07-19 4:43:23 PM |
| #10 I fail to see the famed French Logic at work here.The Muslim immigrants have massive unemployment,which meant there were no jobs for them.So why let them into country in first place?It may be time for Europe to adapt the old Australian policy of no job,no entry,and apply it retroactively.Short term pain,long term gain. |
| Posted by: Stephen 2004-07-19 4:11:21 PM |
| #9 Anon 4617---I have sent Emails to the editors about this and they will get back to you if they have your email address, or you can email me and I will relay, after verification. Paul |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-07-19 3:16:24 PM |
| #8 Where the old geezers that died in last year's summer heat ethnic Gauls? |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-07-19 3:06:42 PM |
| #7 Polygamy should be a disqualification for emigration to any Western country, and if you are found to have more than one wife, you should be immediately deported. I think we should be more creative with our entrance requirements. If a Muslim wants to emigrate to the West, he should swear his allegiance to his new country over allegiance to Islam, and do it on a Quran, in Allah's name. That'll keep the numbers low. |
| Posted by: jules 187 2004-07-19 2:28:00 PM |
| #6 TW - Yep, only the "social futurists" who designed these spoke-and-hub "satellite" burbs thought that they would be mini-communities of wonderfully integrated happy people. Bright shining faces and gleaming eat-off-the-sidewalk mini-Utopias... I saw the promo films in school. I wonder what went wrong? Lol! Social engineering doesn't work so well, no? Leaving that fact aside... One thing they left out of the satellites was the fundamental services... They were too small to have separate police stations, medical facilities, etc. - you had to go up-spoke to the hub for these basics. The scale was all wrong. Smaller = hamlets, which might've worked better. Larger, with req services, might have worked better. The study of critical mass populations was ignored - in favor of architectural aesthetics. Sad, but true. The French were just doing what was done everywhere - look at such public housing failures in the US. Can we all say, "Fort Apache, The Bronx"??? I knew we could. Social Engineering is a failure. Housing developers who knock out 100-500 homes do a better job! Sorry for the windiness. Just a pet hobby of mine. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-07-19 1:09:24 PM |
| #5 But...the suburbs were built to be ethnic ghettos. Why be surprised when the plan succeeds? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2004-07-19 12:48:02 PM |
| #4 "The intelligence services noted that many families of immigrant origin were rejecting French values..." I cant say that I see this entirely as a bad thing. |
| Posted by: John 2004-07-19 12:39:53 PM |
| #3 the government has proposed a five-year plan to improve social cohesion How socialist, just like Uncle Josef used to do... 4617 - Ask Fred or the Army of Steve (Steve / Steve White) instead. |
| Posted by: Raj 2004-07-19 12:22:14 PM |
| #2 Paul, This is OT but I need a favor from you. Are you able to search on this site? If you are, can you search under Anonymous5854? He left a post for me that sounds like a threat (Dhahran is abserving you....). I would like to know what type of comments this person have been making in this site. Please, if you are able to do this, can you copy and paste a sample of his/her messages in this thread. Thanks a million in advance. |
| Posted by: Anonymous4617 2004-07-19 12:07:52 PM |
| #1 The report warned the ghettoes, cut off from mainstream French society, could encourage radical Islam to take root. Day late and a dollar short. The MSM is starting to see the obvious. They should have read Rantburg and other blogs that discussed this situation in depth. It is not just in France. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-07-19 12:02:11 PM |