Social Rights of Non-European Illegal Immigrants in France

Abstract

Non-European immigrants in an illegal situation in France1 – sans papiers – are considered very differently under labour law and social security legislation. In labour law, they are treated, at least partially, like legally-employed workers. However, the extreme vulnerability of these workers in dealings with their employers can only be remedied by the recognition of residency rights based on their actual employment situation. This is not a controversial legal issue at present in France. As far as social coverage is concerned (health, maternity, disablement, and retirement), illegal immigrants were excluded from the scope of application of social security legislation in 1993 and relegated to social assistance, with all the perverse effects that entailed. The radical change in French legislative policy on the right to social protection for foreigners since 1993, initially by imposing legal residence as a condition for access to social security systems and benefits, then instituting a minimum, continuous residency requirement for access to a reduced ‘selection of care, obviously raises the issue of the incompatibility between national positive law and international laws adopted by France.