Foreigners over-represented in delinquency and crime figures
To begin with, foreigners are indeed over-represented in delinquency and crime figures. Today, foreigners represent 7.6% of the population of France, or 5.2 million people. However, they account for 17.7% of people implicated by the police and gendarmerie, according to INSEE. Also, foreigners account for 23.2% of the prison population in France, according to the International Prison Observatory.
These figures are one of the bases for the argument that we need to fight immigration in order to combat delinquency and crime.
However, is there really a link between immigration and delinquency/crime, or are there other factors that could explain these figures?
Figures need to be qualified
First, it’s important to qualify the figures. Foreigners are over-represented in crime figures. However, the reasons why they are brought to justice are essentially economic or financial offences (counterfeiting, street vending) and theft. Foreigners can also be guilty of offences that only they can commit. Like the offence of being undocumented. This inflates the figures without adding any relevance.
Secondly, a foreigner is more likely to be checked than a native. According to a 2017 survey by the Défenseur des droits, 16% of the population claimed to have been checked at least once in the last 5 years. Among people under 25 perceived as black or Arab, 80% said they had already been checked in the last 5 years. A difference of 64 points.
Secondly, foreign offenders and criminals are judged more severely than nationals. They are more likely to face a prison sentence than natives for the same offence or crime. Their prison sentences are also longer.
Note: “With similar characteristics” means that differences in sentences between foreigners and French nationals are calculated for individuals of the same age, sex, criminal record, date and place of trial, who have committed the same type of offence and followed the same procedure.
Reading: foreigners are 5.16% more likely to receive a prison sentence than natives of the same sex, age, criminal record, etc.
Note: “With similar characteristics” means that differences in sentences between foreigners and French nationals are calculated for individuals of the same age, sex, criminal record, date and place of trial, who have committed the same type of offence and followed the same procedure.
Reading: foreigners have on average 20.91 days more of a prison sentence than a native of the same sex, age, criminal record, etc.
Three-quarters of immigrants (74%) are aged between 18 and 64, compared to just over half (56%) of non-immigrants. This means that foreigners are more likely to be in an age group where deviance is “more common”.
Taking these analyses into account, it is already more difficult to assert that foreigners are more deviant than natives.
A poorer population
With a poverty rate of around 11% (EU average 16%), France is one of the EU countries with the lowest poverty rate. However, with a poverty rate for foreigners of 28%, France is above the EU average (26%). This gap between natives and foreigners is even more apparent with people who arrived less than 10 years ago, 40% of whom are in poverty, according to the European Commission and the OECD.
Foreigners are also more affected by unemployment (13%) than natives (7%). They are also in poorer health, have more difficulties at school, do more arduous work, live in more overcrowded housing, and so on. Another factor, more specific to France, is discrimination. France is the second country (neck and neck with Italy) with the highest number of complaints of discrimination based on ethnic criteria. According to the OECD, this concerns 20.5% of foreigners living in France.
Poverty leads to more deviance
According to the French section of the International Prison Observatory, poverty and social insecurity lead to greater deviance. In France, 45% of people surveyed on entering prison are poor (compared with 11% of the general population).
55% had no permanent employment contract before entering prison (compared with 35% of the overall population). 28% were living with a relative, and 8% were homeless (compared to 0.5% of the overall population).
Poverty and, more broadly, a poor social and economic situation are therefore major factors in deviance.
Conclusion
Immigration is a complex subject on which many fantasies are confusedly based. In fact, foreigners are over-represented in delinquency/crime figures. However, statistics show that it’s not because they come from foreign countries that they are more deviant. Poverty, unemployment, discrimination, are factors that generally lead to an increase in deviance, regardless of a person’s nationality or ethnic origin.
Also, the wealth created by foreigners is vital to keep a flagging system running. Discriminating further or limiting immigration would impoverish the system and, by extension, the population as a whole. Statistically, this would ultimately make the streets less safe.
