“We have still avoided the worst of racism and frontal obscurantism, but I feel that it will continue to be very latent.” Kawder, a 26-year-old Moroccan student, is thinking of leaving France after her bac + 5.
In the aftermath of the French legislative elections marked by a surge in the far right, which campaigned on the themes of national preference and the reduction of immigration, foreign students are questioning their future in the country.
“Even if the National Rally (far-right party, editor’s note) does not have the majority in the National Assembly, you really feel that there is a social divide that has been created,” notes the student from the School of Decorative Arts, who says she has noticed an increase in racist gestures and “more insistent looks” in public spaces in recent weeks.
In his Parisian student residence, the malaise remains despite the surprise defeat of this party, which came in third place behind the New Popular Front (left-wing coalition) and the presidential camp, and this, while the country is still looking for a new government.
Brahim (name changed), 26, a student at Sciences Po and a Syrian political refugee, arrived in France almost seven years ago and intends to stay here.
But the elections “hurt his heart,” explains the man who did some schoolwork on arriving in France and learned French – perfectly – before joining the top school with a view to a career in finance.
Like Kawder, he heard racist and xenophobic remarks on the street during the legislative campaign. “My new home, my new country does not want me, no matter what I do to assimilate and integrate,” he sighs.
He is one of more than 410,000 foreigners enrolled in French higher education according to the latest official figures, which date from 2022-2023, or 14% of students, according to Campus France, the public establishment responsible for promoting French higher education abroad and welcoming these students and researchers.
“Hit in the face”
The day after the first round of legislative elections, France’s universities and grandes écoles published a joint statement to say “no to the National Rally”, whose policy “endangers our higher education and the opportunities it offers to all young people”, according to them.
The far-right party proposed in particular the establishment of a deposit or quotas in certain establishments to limit the number of foreign students. In 2022, the president of the RN group in the Assembly, three-time presidential candidate for this party, Marine Le Pen called for national preference for housing in the Crous, a public establishment managing university residences in particular.
According to a study by Campus France in 2022, international students bring 5 billion euros to the French economy, for a net profit of 1.35 billion euros.
“The fact that foreigners come to study with us is something we should be pleased about, it is part of our global influence,” acknowledged RN MP Roger Chudeau at the end of June.
“Then they could return home, ask to become French or apply for a residence permit,” added this specialist in education issues within the National Rally.
Not enough to reassure Ali Tchari, a 25-year-old Chadian student who arrived in France three years ago and who experienced the elections in “anguish”. Leaving France after his studies, the student in a professional certificate at Sciences Po has also thought about it.
Now “reassured”, he hopes to have “an opportunity and a chance” by mentioning the arrival of the left in the lead in terms of the number of seats in the National Assembly.
On the large lawn of the Cité internationale universitaire de Paris, an American-style campus that houses 12,000 students and researchers of 150 nationalities, Abraham Selano, a 26-year-old Mexican, is “not really” relieved. “The reality” of a strong far right “hit me in the face,” explains the student, who would nevertheless like to continue working in France.