French Policies on Refugees' access to housing

This country research report focuses on housing solutions for refugees and beneficiaries of international protection status in France. It is delivered under the H2020 project MERGING—Integration for Migrants. The main aims of this report are: • Provide a synthesis of the main legal structures existing in France delineated by targets (all arrivals, newly arrivals, refugees, vulnerable groups), • Classify policies depending on their scope, • Present the main debates in public policies about access to housing and access to the rest of social rights, • Identify tools developed in public policies to fight discrimination, • Describe the main tendencies in public policies devoted to social inclusion for immigrants during the last 10 years approximately, • Summarize the main ideological changes experienced in the last 10 years. The basic time frame of the analysis covers the years 2015-2021, however, where necessary we refer to previous years (e.g., important articles that shaped the field, political decisions and policy changes). The approaches and definitions applied in this report are broad. Indeed, one of the objectives of WP2 is to gather enough knowledge to develop a good understanding about the realities of housing for migrants in Europe. This step will allow us to identify a specific target population for the project. Consequently, the focus is on people who were forced to leave their domestic country, having or not an official status, or an international protection. This includes asylum seekers, refugees, temporary protection, etc. The structure of this country report includes several key parts, the first of which is this introduction outlining a framework for further consideration and embedding it in the context of the MERGING project and its WP2. It is followed by a presentation of the main legal structures existing in France (legal texts, organizations and responsible actors), 2) a classification of policies based on their scope and 3) a presentation of the main debates related to access to housing and social rights. Particular attention will be paid to identify tools created to fight discrimination, as well as the main trends in public policies devoted to social inclusion for immigrants since 2011. The report will conclude on a synthesis on the most important ideological changes experienced in the last 10 years. The next sessions provide a brief overview of our methodology, followed by a presentation of the characteristics and specificities of the French context regarding migrants' access to housing.