FRANCE: HELPING NEW MIGRANTS TO EXERCISE THEIR ART – Easier integration into society

In France, the professional rehabilitation of young immigrants is often a lengthy process, as access to employment is often difficult due to language or complex bureaucracy.

A year ago, Ines Mesham, a French-Tunisian anthropologist, founded the ”Fabrique nomade”, an association that helps young immigrants coming to France to use their skills and become professional in their new homeland.

Ines had this idea when she discovered accidentally that her mother was a seamstress in her homeland of Tunisia. But when she immigrated to France, she was unable to practice her profession and so changed her job.

Ines realised that her mother was not a unique case when she met Yasir, a man that was cultivating vegetables in the district of Paris. When she learned that the Sudanese immigrant was a potter in his homeland, he urged him to find a job where he could use his knowledge. Thus Ines decided to establish the Nomadic factory, where two other craftsmen soon joined.

The action of the association that focuses on the professional rehabilitation of migrants moves around three axes: supporting, strengthening and promoting craftsmen. Essentially it helps them start a project and get in touch with companies that could hire them.