1974-2002, les mutations de l'immigration ouest-africaine

Abstract

Parmi les immigrés d'Afrique de l'Ouest, dans les années qui ont suivi la fermeture des frontières, la socialisation des hommes seuls n'a pu se faire que par le biais du travail ou au sein des foyers. Ensuite, avec le regroupement familial, l'intégration de ces migrants est passée par la vie associative, dynamisée par le rôle social des femmes puis par les luttes des "sans-papiers". Victimes de ségrégations multiples, les ressortissants d'Afrique subsaharienne n'ont pas attendu qu'elle les invite pour forcer la main de la démocratie française, en interrogeant l'essence même de la citoyenneté et en revendiquant l'égalité entre nationaux et étrangers.

Liminal Lives

“…Before independence, however, very few migrants were unskilled workers. Only the political or commercial West African elites would regularly circulate between the métropole and its "overseas territories" (Quiminal & Timera, 2002). It was only in the 1960s, following earlier cohorts of migrants to France-from Portugal, Italy, Poland, Turkey, and then North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia)-that West African immigrants considered migration to France as a seductive option for work and capital accumulation.…”

“…However, the West African immigrant population, especially from the Senegal River Valley, has both increased and taken on new forms. As Quiminal and Timera (2002) argued, frequent changes in immigration regulations have contributed to producing a "clandestine" population (p. 21). The seemingly endless succession of (changing) rules (e.g., residence permits not renewable because of unemployment exceeding 6 months, annulment of the procedure of permits for women joining their husbands with a tourist visa, changes in nationality acquisition leading to the possibility of deportation) poses a constant threat to individual and family stability.…”

“…There were restrictions, however, on the right to live with one's family, and these particularly affected West African immigrants. According to Quiminal and Timera (2002), the majority of West African men who came to France as labor migrants in the 1960s were strongly targeted by unemployment and racism and, thus, could not fulfill the conditions required for their families to join them. These conditions included a minimum salary, as well as housing sufficiently large to accommodate specific numbers of residents; for each additional resident in a dwelling, precise spatial dimensions were required.…”

“…Failing to provide these may entail visa denial and/or repatriation. Quiminal and Timera (2002) observed that the step to obtain such visas require "stubbornness and patience" (p. 20; cf. Chavez, 1998) and that racist practices from consulates and embassies, both in France and Africa, have been denounced by the media.…”

Pathways into Irregular Status among Senegalese Migrants in Europe

“…Arrival in the 1990s is associated with an increase of 11 percentage points in the probability of transition to irregular first status, while the increase is 26 points for the 2000s. Arriving during the year of a regularization is positively associated with the probability of having irregular status upon arrival, suggesting that Senegalese migrants may have sought out destinations for regularization opportunities (Quiminal and Timera, ).…”