The Migration Triangle: Narratives, Justice and the Politics of Migration in France

Figures & data

Table 1. Types of justice claims

	Context of justice and normative approach	Referent actor	Reference value
Justice as non-domination	Westphalian	state	non-interference
Justice as impartiality	cosmopolitan	individual as human being	compliance with international norms
Justice as mutual recognition	subjective	individual in his/her specific identity	recognition

Table 2. Data overview per time period and per newspaper

	1) European Parliament elections	2) EU-Turkey deal	3) Eventless	4) 2017 Presidential elections
Keywords	‘Européennes’ and ‘migrants’ or ‘migratoire’ or ‘immigration’ or ‘asile’ or ‘réfugié’	‘Turquie’ and ‘migrants’ or ‘migratoire’ or ‘immigration’ or ‘asile’ or ‘réfugié’	‘migrants’ or ‘migratoire’ or ‘immigration’ or ‘réfugié’ or ‘asile’ or ‘immigrants’	‘Présidentielles’ or ‘Elections’ and ‘migrants’ or ‘migratoire’ or ‘immigration’ or ‘asile’ or ‘réfugié’
Le Monde	23	40	21	20
Le Figaro	41	10	7	13
Libération	17	16	9	12
L’Opinion	11	7	3	8
	92	73	40	53
				Total 258

Table 3. Overview of the French legislative framework on migration (2006-18)

	Date of publication	Main points
Law on migration and integration	24 July 2006	Time needed for spousal reunification increased and automatic regularisation no longer valid. The 10 year resident card conditional on acquisition of a French language diploma.
Law on the control of immigration, integration and asylum	17 November 2007	Test for French language knowledge added as requirement for family reunification. A ‘reception and integration contract for families’ added as well. More resources to qualify for family reunification.
Law on immigration, integration and nationality	16 June 2011	Reform of expulsion procedures to reduce irregular migration. Maximum length of detention increased from 35 to 42 days and access to legal aid in the National Court of Asylum limited.
Law on holding migrants for verification of the regularity of stay, amending the offence for support to irregular stay by excluding humanitarian and non-profit based acts	31 December 2012	‘Solidarity crime’ suppressed. The crime for ‘Irregular entrance’ replaced by the crime for ‘Irregular stay’.
Law on the reform of asylum rights	29 July 2015	Acceleration of procedures for applications for international protection and appeal. Expulsion foreseen at the moment of application rejection. Modification of the list of ‘Safe Origin Countries’ (POS).
Law on the rights of foreigners in France	7 March 2016	Ban on circulation of all individuals considered a risk for society (3 years max for European citizens). A total number of entrances per year established, resident visa depends on good knowledge of French and adherence to national values. ‘State medical aid’ (AME) replaced with a limited ‘Emergency medical aid’ (AMU).
Law for correct application of the European Asylum Regime	21 March 2018	Authorisation for retention following the decision of transfer towards an EU country, and extension of validity of controls for residence permits. Reduction of administrative appeal period for transfers.
Law for controlled immigration, effective asylum regulation and successful integration	10 September 2018	Reduction of application time for asylum request and criminalisation of unauthorised border crossing (1 year sentence and €3750 fine)

Source: Authors’ adaptation from May (2016b) and http://www.vie-publique.fr/th/acces-thematique/immigration.html

Table 4. Relevance of main narrative themes

	2014 European Parliament elections	2015 eventless week	2016 EU- Turkey Statement	2017 national presidential elections
Westphalian	13 (36.11%)	6 (16.6%)	11 (11.45%)	16 (41.02%)
humanitarian	8 (22.2%)	12 (33.3%)	32 (33.3%)	9 (23.07%)
multilateral	6 (16.6%)	10 (27.7%)	7 (7.29%)	6 (15.38%)
international law	-	-	16 (16.6%)	-
border protection	-	3 (8.33%)	7 (7.29%)	4 (10.25%)
utilitarian	7 (19.4%)	2 (5.55%)	4 (4.16%)	1 (2.56%)
normative	-	-	14 (14.58%)	-
security	2 (5.55%)	3 (8.33%)	1 (1.04%)	3 (7.69%)
hypocrisy	-	-	4 (4.16%)	-
Total	36 (100%)	36 (100%)	96 (100%)	39 (100%)

Table 5. Overview of main narratives for the French case

Narrative	Meaning	Justice claim	Main events	Main newspapers
Westphalian	Non-interference; external sovereignty of states; national identity	non-domination	Presidential elections, EP elections	Le Monde, Figaro, Libération
humanitarian	Rights protection; reciprocity; human beings	impartiality, mutual recognition	EU-Turkey deal, eventless week	Libération, Le Monde
multilateral	Respect of international law and political engagements; supranational	impartiality	eventless week, EU-Turkey deal	Figaro, Le Monde

May, P. 2016b. Ideological justifications for restrictive immigration policies: An analysis of parliamentary discourses on immigration in France and Canada (2006–2013). French Politics 14 (3): 287–310.

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