The French people believe that immigration harms the economy, national cohesion, and national security, according to a survey published Sunday.
In general, 58 percent of French people said that the net effects of immigration are negative, a figure echoed in questions on specific spheres of national life, as well.
Asked about the effects of immigration on economic growth, 54 percent of French adults said the result was negative. The French also believe that immigration bodes poorly for the future of the country (55 percent), national identity (58 percent), respect for healthy secularism (61 percent), and social cohesion (64 percent).
Most strikingly, a full two-thirds of the nation (66 percent) believes that immigration has an overall negative effect on national security.
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According to the Agence France Presse (AFP), the new survey illustrates the “hostility” of a French population that has integrated large numbers of immigrants for decades, a phenomenon that has contributed to the transformation of society in the midst of a weakened national economy.
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In the field of economic migration, the results are very different. Nearly three-quarters of the population (71 percent) consider that economic migration lowers wages for everyone.
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Here, too, a substantial majority of 63 percent support the abolition of the Schengen Agreement, which established the free movement of persons across borders within the EU, and thus favoring the restoration of national borders.
