Today I want to describe the episode of the French podcast, Splash, about immigration. The topic of immigration is highly controversial in many countries because it could have a remarkable influence on their economy and their society. The host of this program, Etienne, is a college professor of economics. On this occasion, he tries to clarify some myths and truths about immigration.

First, we must define what immigration is and who immigrants are. Immigration is the movement of people (immigrants) to a nation where they weren’t born or don’t have citizenship. Most people do it in order to have a better life, and this is the case for the episode's first interviewee. Etienne asks him why he had to emigrate. He says that he had to emigrate from Syria to France because he wanted to avoid being recruited by Daesh. Security problems and a bad economy are the main reasons for most of the emigration because generally people prefer to live in their own countries rather than living abroad. It’s clear that some people are the exception to this, but in comparison they are a minority.

Immigrants Are Poor and Uneducated People

This is one of the main issues because many people think this about all immigrants. However, this misconception is easily dismantled; for example, the man interviewed says that his mother, father and one of his brothers are agricultural engineers; also, he and his other brother are petroleum engineers. They are a big family of engineers. But this isn’t an isolated case. In 2017 (when this episode was released), the scientific journal "Population et Sociétés" published the following data: more than 21% of Tunisian immigrants in France have a higher education degree, while this percentage is 27% for the active French population, then the second highest are Vietnamese immigrants with 35%, and Romanian immigrants with 37% have the highest percentage with a higher degree. This information confirms that immigrants are more educated than some people believe.

Immigration Is Expensive for Nations

Some people have this wrong idea, but in reality immigration is costly for immigrants. They are the ones who pay for visas, for travel, for settling in a new country; and for illegal immigration it’s worse because it’s extremely dangerous and expensive as well. Therefore, poor people can rarely do it. People who can do it are usually young, healthy, and educated. Some of them migrate with capital to create a good business to return the benefits to their families. Consequently, this benefits both individuals and countries due to the creation of new businesses.

Immigration Creates More Unemployment

Although this is a common opinion, successful immigrants are good workers. They can even create new businesses and new jobs. In this episode, the testimonies can prove it. In addition, immigrants can offer new products and create diversity that is necessary for all types of markets. However, some bad people can damage the good image of people who want to adapt and create a pleasant life in their new country.

Additionally, sometimes in the first few months, immigrants work in jobs that are typically less attractive. Besides, if an immigrant gets a job with all the difficulties involved, maybe the one who needs more preparation and enthusiasm is the native citizen. The latter wasn't said in the podcast, but I wanted to mention it. For all the reasons mentioned in the last two paragraphs, immigration doesn't increase unemployment.

France

Since this podcast is French, the main focus is on this nation. Etienne, following the theme of government spending created by immigrants, says that immigrants can create government spending as revenue from the taxes the immigrants must pay. The main government expenditures in this area may be family allowances, employment subsidies, social services, and health care.

The data provided in this episode show that immigration often results in more benefits than losses for countries. In addition, the host says something I’d like to mention: immigration normally creates a virtually neutral impact on the finances of the receiving nation.

The countries with the highest percentage of immigration in Europe in relation to their population are: first Germany, second France and third the United Kingdom. Although France is on the list of countries with the highest percentage of immigrants in Europe, this country only receives about 200,000 immigrants per year, but 100,000 other immigrants also leave the country each year. Therefore, immigration in France isn’t massive but moderate.

Finally, it’s valid to clarify that immigrants want to get a good job and have a good and stable life in the place where they have emigrated. Obviously some people have bad intentions, but they are a minority. Before concluding this post, I want to say this is a brief text on a long and complex subject. This shouldn’t be taken as an absolute truth because more topics can be described, but my intention is just to describe the episode in order to practice my English and French skills.

Thank you for reading, and helping me.

Link of the episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5GP6az5rjOqko8noz1pzAs?si=JelhZB3ARaehHeMiz-hs2w