France: Emergency Migrant Housing Costs Soar Over €500 Million a Year

The emergency accommodation system in France is buckling under the strain, featuring exploding costs, a record 98 percent occupancy rate, and fears that even more migrants are coming.

Although there are approximately 114,000 reception places in the system administered by the French Office for Immigration and Integration (OFII), which is run by France’s interior ministry, these spots are essentially full, leading to a bill for over half a billion euros per year for hotel nights alone. This record occupancy rate also comes at a time when the number of places has doubled since 2017 in the National Reception System (DNA), when there were only 62,000 spots available for migrants.

The French system is relying more and more on hotel rooms, just as it does in other countries like Germany and Great Britain.

As French newspaper Le Figaro reports, “The Court of Auditors denounces the State’s dependence on subsidized associations and excessive use of hotel nights, the costs of which are exploding with inflation. In 2022, these nights amounted to 525 million euros.”

The audit report recommends shifting France’s focus to “sustainable housing” to bring down costs.

There are also fears about the future. Critics note that there has been little to stop migratory flows into France. This reality coupled with administrative delays in processing asylum and challenges in removing rejected asylum seekers are leading to system overload.

Now, the situation in Syria following the collapse of Bashar Al-Assad’s government is prompting fear of another migrant wave. Meanwhile, more and more Lebanese migrants are arriving in France due to Israel’s military offensive there.

As Remix News has previously reported, migrants cost France at least €25 billion a year, according to research from French author and academic Jean-Paul Gourévitch.

“I have studied this topic extensively and today everyone in France, from the left to the right agrees that immigration costs more than it brings in,” Gourévitch said during an appearance on Radio Sud. “There is a major difference between left and right (oriented) economists regarding the costs: the leftist economists say the deficit is six to ten billion [euros per year], while those on the right say it is 40 to 44 billion. My own scientific research shows that the deficit is 20 to 25 billion [euros].”

In 2022, France welcomed a record 600,000 migrants despite claims from French President Emmanuel Macron that migration pressure would be reduced.

As Remix News has also noted previously, 80 percent of migrants claiming to be minors are actually adults, according to medical testing in France.