Tensions in France are caused by parallel societies

Riots like the one in France have already taken place earlier, Omar Sayfo, a senior researcher at Hungary’s Migration Research Institute has said.

French police officers patrol as demonstrators fill the street in the Champs Elysees area of Paris on July 1, 2023, five days after a 17-year-old man was killed by police in Nanterre, a western suburb of Paris. French police arrested 1311 people nationwide during a fourth consecutive night of rioting over the killing of a teenager by police, the interior ministry said on July 1, 2023. France had deployed 45,000 officers overnight backed by light armoured vehicles and crack police units to quell the violence over the death of 17-year-old Nahel, killed during a traffic stop in a Paris suburb on June 27, 2023. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP) Fotó: Europress/AFP/Ludovic Marin

Omar Sayfo, a senior researcher at the Hungarian Migration Research Institute has examined the social background to the riots in France. Sayfo recalled that last Tuesday, a 38-year-old motorcycle policeman shot and killed 17-year-old Nahel M. during a traffic stop. The policeman is under investigation on suspicion of manslaughter. President Emmanuel Macron called the incident unforgivable, but even that was not enough to quell the anger. Clashes started in Paris and spread to other parts of the country. The wave of violence has been going on for more than a week.

The expert recalled that demonstrations like the one in France had become a regular occurrence since the second half of the 1990s. The first really serious nationwide demonstration, however, took place in 2005, after two migrants fleeing from police officers died in a transformer house.

That was when it became clear to the general public that the traditional structures of immigrant societies had become dysfunctional, and that young people struggling with identity crises did not recognize the authority of either their parents or religious leaders. During the three weeks of riots, tens of thousands of cars and 230 public buildings were set on fire, with more than €200 million in property damage. Police arrested nearly 2 900 rioters and 126 police and firefighters were injured in the clashes. Then French President Jacques Chirac declared a state of emergency. Nicolas Sarkozy, who was interior minister at the time, called the rioters "scum" and described the two dead youths as thieves. Sarkozy declared a 'zero tolerance' policy, which was put into practice a year later, on 1 October 2006, during the riots in Les Mureaux, Yvelines. Thus, order was restored in the suburbs for the following years.

Paris, however, sought to prevent further major riots, with a 2017 law amendment giving police officers greater powers to use weapons. The measure allows them to open fire if the driver of a vehicle disobeys the instructions and/or endangers the life of a police officer.

Omar Sayfo also pointed out that there are many people in French society with brother or a relative who was involved in the 2005 riots: there is no one in the family holding these young people back, and with the spread of the internet and smartphones, they can inform each other of anything in a matter of seconds.

Parallel societies

The French public became aware of the concept of parallel societies during the 2005 suburban riots. The parallel society was then defined as a microcosm of young people alienated from mainstream society, as the rioters were second and third generation immigrants from different ethnic and religious backgrounds. Parallel societies in France do not reflect the culture of the immigrants’ countries of origin. The immigrants do indeed embrace many of the elements of their own culture, but they usually mix them with the culture of the host country and, in some cases, with countercultures imported from the United States. Thus, specific hybrids are created. The majority society is not satisfied with the (economic) integration of these societies, but expects their full assimilation. 

In this context, there is no social support in France neither for collective minority rights on ethnic or religious grounds, nor for multicultural or non-French-language education,

Omar Sayfo pointed out.

A wasted generation

The violent riots highlight the fact that the French state has effectively abandoned an entire generation of immigrant youth. Partly because of failures in education policy, young people's labor market opportunities are also limited, leading many young people in the suburbs to choose a life of crime.

The French government ensures the free exercise of religion in public places as long as it does not disturb public order. In schools, however, there is a policy of religious neutrality, making it difficult for schools to transmit a world view that could strengthen young people's attachment to France and its culture. 

This is a generation that is generally resistant to the powers that be. They are lagging behind in education, which means that they have fewer opportunities to enter the labor market, leaving them with no options apart from crime, which has become part of their daily lives.

The 2005 riots were quelled by the state, but the strict laws have created a sense of isolation. The young people of the suburbs looked online and created a community for themselves where they could set up their various actions without having to meet in person. 

The French crisis could have serious consequences, Hungarian analyst Gyorgy Nogradi told HirTV. He explained that these consequences will also be visible in other Western European countries with a significant number of Muslims, because they are unable and unwilling to integrate into society.

Cover photo: clashes have been going on for a week in France (Photo: AFP/Ludovic Marin)