Foreign Students in France - The Saga Continues

I wrote about this a few days ago (post here).  A change in policy has left graduating foreign students at French schools with a rather backhanded invitation -  to take their degrees and their talents and exit the country in the most expeditious manner.

In spite of the uproar the Minister of the Interior is standing firm.  Here is the offending "circulaire" so you can read it for yourself.  As I suspected they are citing the current economic climate as the main reason for this initiative.  If you would like to learn more, just type "la circulaire Guéant-Bertrand" into any search engine.  This is really causing a scandal with business, universities and others firmly in the "this is a terrible idea" camp.

Interestingly enough Mr. Minister of the Interior does not seem to have kept Madame the Budget Minister (the former Minister of Higher Education) in the loop.  She has written to her colleague on behalf of students at HEC.  From what I was able to read in the paper, she doesn't see much sense in any of this and is asking for explanations and a revision of the policy.  Will any of this make a difference?

I hate to be cynical but, no, it won't.  The prize is the 2012 elections and there is just too much anti-immigrant rhetoric coming from the Far Right and too much economic uncertainty.  People are afraid and fear makes them very susceptible to the cry of "France for the French."

Typical of this are the comments I read at the end of this article in La Tribune.  Just for fun, I'll translate a few of them for you:

"Bravo à M. le Ministre, qu'il reste sur ses positions. Etant moi-même jeune diplômé (en droit) à la recherche d'un travail, je ne veux pas entrer en compétition avec "toute la misère du monde" pour un poste! (ne me parlez pas de choses du genre "solidarité" blablablabla, parce que si certains ont des complexes vis-à-vis de la période coloniale, ils n'ont qu'à aller faire de l'humanitaire en Afrique. Ce ne sera que du bon débarras!)"

Bravo to the Minister and I hope he holds his ground. Being myself a new graduate (law) looking for work, I have no desire to be in competition with "all the misery of the world" for a job! (don't talk to me about "solidarity" because if certain people have a complex about the colonial era, they have only to leave and do humanitarian work in Africa. It would be good to be rid of them!)

"Le minimum de bon sens est de privilégier les diplomés français . L'inverse relève du masochisme.....ou de la tentative de manipulation des opinions politiques (n'oublions jamais que les mondialistes-immigrationistes sont aux manettes de notre société depuis 25 ans et qu'ils ne souhaitent pas abandonner leurs ptérogatives , traitements et honoraires inclus !!!"

It is only good sense to give priority to French graduates. To do the opposite would be masochistic...or an attempt at manipulating political opinion (let's never forget that the globalizing immigrationists are at the controls of our society since 25 years and they do no wish to give up their prerogatives, special treatment and bonuses included!!!

And finally this exchange which made me smile:

"Je trouve normal de favorisé les français par rapport aux étrangers."
I find it normal to favor French over foreigners.

And this short but sweet reply:

" de favoriser" Une étrangère diplômée
[Correction of a rather flagrant grammatical error in French made by the original commenter, presumably a Frenchman, and pointed out by a Foreign Student ]

I have been hearing this sort of thing for years and I am always a bit surprised that my more left-leaning friends are astonished by the rage and xenophobia that pours out when people are allowed to say what they really think about immigrants from the safety of their anonymous Internet connections.  Sarkozy is no fool and if he wins it will be in part because there are many people here will quietly vote for a candidate that keeps the "misery of the world" at bay.

And now I guess we now have a new standard for the "misery of the world."  It can have diplomas from the best schools, speak multiple languages, be well integrated into the local culture and wear a suit and tie.   These students will be just fine - there are lots of countries more than happy to have them.  France's loss will be someone else's gain and the French nation will be poorer as a result of this self-inflicted wound.