In 2021, nearly 1,350 associations were subsidized or remunerated by the French government to the tune of €750 million, with the funds earmarked under the “mission” of Immigration, asylum and integration.
These funds, along with funding from outside actors such as the Open Society Foundations, create massive incentives for France to continue its open borders policies. As French magazine Valeurs Actuelles reports, the number of associations designed to promote and help migrants have rapidly multiplied, with opportunistic actors cashing in on France’s rapidly changing demographics.
These associations, such as France Terre d’Asile, La Cimade, GISTI, and the Refugee Forum, are tasked with helping illegal immigrants from the moment they arrive in France, including providing them with food and housing and walking them through the steps required to apply for asylum and other benefits.
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Given the number of such associations and the record number of migrants arriving in France, there were questions about where the money was coming from to support these costly operations. Nathalie Goulet, from the centrist Union group, wrote a letter in December 2022, which was published by the French Senate, asking the government about details regarding “public subsidies” going to these associations, including “their amount and their frequency.
The French ministries for the interior and overseas territories published its response on April 13, also on the Senate website. It writes that in 2021, “nearly 1,350 associations were subsidized or remunerated for more than €750 million euros, under the credits of the Immigration, Asylum and Integration mission.”
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The ministry argues there is strict oversight on how these funds are spent, and the migrant associations are selected “in the context of annual calls for projects at the national level but also and above all at the regional and local level, or through territorial contracts signed with the communities.”
Much of the work of processing migrants has been outsourced to these associations, and the sums of money these organizations are receiving from taxpayers are likely even higher than the figure of €750 million, as there are also significant funds coming from local governments.
Overall, approximately €25 billion a year is spent on migrants in France, underlining the significant sums of money being directed at this growing demographic group. Entrepreneurs, political activists and even religious organizations can make small fortunes catering to this group with everything from laundry services in asylum homes to constructing new accommodations across the country. At the same time, ethnic French are already becoming a minority in some cities, yet they overwhelmingly pay the lion’s share for the housing, education, and other social costs of these newcomers.
