Problem praw społecznych, kulturowych i religijnych w kontekście aktualnej polityki imigracyjnej we Francji

Abstract

The question of immigration and integration in France is multidimensional. It results from historical conditions dating back to the eighteenth century, what makes it one of the longest in Europe. The development of French immigration has post-colonial heritage and a long tradition of seeking cheap, unskilled labor force abroad. In 1930 France was the sec-ond state (after the United States) in terms of accepting foreigners. Such a policy was a re-sult of the need to hype the economy after World War II. At the same time it has started to put increasing emphasis on the protection of human rights, which resulted in the enact-ment of a series of laws created for preventing discrimination based on, among others, race, gender, religious beliefs or national origin. At the same time it was necessary to guarantee a decent living and a sense of security and equal treatment for immigrants. Over the years, with changes of geopolitical situation, also the French immigration policy had to change. Especially difficult was to find a balance between respect for the cultural diversity of im-migrants, particularly Muslims on the one hand and aspirations for assimilation with the native French people and keeping the secular nature of the Republic and European cultur-al heritage, on the other.