No change in the ‘banlieues’ since 2005

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

After the 2005 riots in France’s low-income ‘banlieues’, the French government launched a national rescue plan. But today little has changed.

PARIS Nov. 28, 2007 - Two years after the 2005 riots shook the French “banlieues,” experts and workers on the ground agree that little has changed in the poor French suburbs.

“Every weekend, a car is burnt. The tension here has not fallen since 2005 and, two years on, things could get bad again,” says Clémence Dellengnol, a local reporter who covers Villiers-le-Bel, scene of renewed rioting in November 2007.

After three weeks of rioting in low-income suburbs across France in 2005, the government of President Jacques Chirac promised a national rescue plan and an extra 120 million euros per year to improve living conditions in the poor banlieues.

But two years later, not much has changed and the situation shows little chance of improving, experts and social workers say. The budget proposed for 2008 by Chirac’s successor, Nicolas Sarkozy, envisions cutting the extra funds for the banlieues by 30 millions euros. And a newly published report says funds for the impoverished areas have been mismanaged.

The French suburbs remain very much a tinderbox, but the tensions remain out of sight, according to John Lichfield, correspondent for the British daily The Independent.
Lichfield says the French banlieues suffer from a lack of visibility. “Poor inner cities in the UK and ghettoes in the US are more visible than French suburbs because they are central. Poor French people are pushed out of the cities into the banlieues – Villiers-le-Bel for example is 12 miles outside Paris.”


Little change since 2005

Unemployment in the poor banlieues was twice the national average in 2005, according to the French agency tasked with monitoring what is known in the French bureaucracy as “sensitive urban zones” (zones urbaines sensibles). No figures are available for 2006-2007, but the agency says it is unlikely the situation has changed much since last year.

If unemployment has dropped, pockets of disaffected, alienated youths are excluded from the job market, says sociologist Laurent Bonelli.

“In areas where unemployment among the young reaches 40 or 50 per cent, only the most qualified find jobs when unemployment drops,” he said. “Young people who don’t have any qualifications, who have dropped out of school – those at the heart of the present problem – still can’t find work.”

For Lichfield, government policies and promises won’t help the youth in the banlieues. “There is no point in telling youth who are burning down nurseries and schools that the government is going to build more nurseries and schools – these kids are too alienated.”

And since the 2005 riots there has been little evidence of improvement regarding urban unrest and violence – a top government priority.

Between 2005 and 2006, damage against property has diminished but attacks against people have shot up by 7.6 per cent in impoverished areas. For Lichfield, “nothing was done to improve relations between the youth and the police, who do not know the children and patrol the banlieues like occupied territories.”

Clémence Dellengnol for the weekly Val d’Oise Gazette says the local police station in Sarcelles which patrols Villiers-le-Bel is short-staffed and unable to work efficiently.


2005-2007: A flurry of measures

The agency which monitors “sensitive urban zones” promoted 2006 as a transition year for urban politics with the creation of new agencies to improve the lives of people living in French banlieues, such the ACSE (Agence nationale pour la cohésion sociale).

In March 2006, the French parliament passed an “equal opportunity” law aimed at improving education, creating jobs and opening up the banlieues. Around 50 flagship projects were launched, such as “Entreprendre pour la cité” (‘Business in the housing projects’) which aims at helping young people create their own businesses.

But according to Bonelli, there has been no change since 2005, no new approach to the French banlieues and, worse, key funds have been cut.

“The projects budget of the ministry of Culture for 2008 has been cut by 50 per cent, meaning that community groups, cultural associations will have to file for bankruptcy. I understand why those who are already working in difficult situations, with people in great difficulty give up in the end,” he says.

Funds for the banlieues were increased by 120 million euros per year. But the French national audit office, the Cour des Comptes, estimates that, despite a 15 per cent funding increase between 2003 and 2005, these impoverished areas still lag far behind other areas.

In a report published in November 2007, the Court criticised the management of state aid, the depth of policy and delay in distributing funds to community associations.

“State procedures are extremely complicated,” confirms François Pupponi, mayor of Sarcelles, a larger town near Villiers-le-Bel. “Every year there are millions that go unspent because the government won’t give us the money directly.”

The national audit office says “the efficiency of the government’s urban policy is uncertain” and recalls that over the last 17 years, there have been 19 ministers in charge of urban affairs, which makes policy-making very unstable.

What’s more, the government’s decision to cut banlieue funding by 30 million euros has caused uproar among local representatives. “It’s scandalous, especially after the 2005 riots,” says Puponni. “30 million euros is nothing for the national budget, but for us, this money is essential, and enables us to launch good projects in our neighbourhoods.”