Two thirds
of French Guiana’s population are immigrants according to a report
published last week by INSEE* and INED**. The wide ranging Migration, Family and Aging report explores these topics in each of
France’s overseas département, in a
publication that highlights the differences between the territories.
In contrast to Guadeloupe (20%), Martinique(16%) and
Reunion(17%), 62.3% of French Guiana’s inhabitants are immigrants, and unlike the
other overseas département, where
immigrants are usually born in metropolitan France, the majority (42.8%) were
born abroad, with only 13.2% coming from the mainland. A majority of these
immigrants have been living in French Guiana for a long time (20 years or more);
this trend is especially high among inhabitants originating from Surinam; and
least reflected among immigrants of Brazilian origin who represent the majority
(37.6%) of those who have arrived in the last 10 years. If the ‘native’ French
Guianese population is examined, over seven in ten of those born in French
Guiana are first or second generation immigrants – this figure is under two in
ten across the French Antilles and Réunion.
The study also examines “natives”, people who were born in
French Guiana and “returning natives”: those who were born in French Guiana; left the territory; returned. The latter category are more educated than the average -29% of them
hold a higher education qualification compared to an average of 16% in French
Guiana- perhaps not surprising given that pursuing studies is the most common reason
for ‘’returning natives’’ to have left the département
; this is the case for 29.1% of them, with 22% leaving for family reasons
and 18.1% for work. This contrasts with
the average for the overseas département
where the main reasons for leaving are work (29%) and military service (24%).
54% of young people (18- 34) surveyed said they would be
prepared to leave French Guiana for work if necessary, however for a majority
of these (60%) this was on the condition of being able to eventually return to
French Guiana. Indeed, it is almost exclusively (99.8%) young people (under 35) who DO leave the territory for an extended period, most
of these (72%) are aged 18 to 25, with the most common destination being mainland
France.
Among new immigrants to French Guiana there are startling
contrasts according to settlers’ countries of origin. 80% of people arriving
from metropolitan France already have work before landing on FG’s soil and 4 in
10 benefit from pay bonuses as a result of their migration; for people from
South America and the Caribbean, the search
for work is the most common motivating factor in migrating. At around one in
five, Metropolitans are the least likely to intend on settling in French
Guiana, with Haitians and Surinamese (around 69%) the most likely to plan on
making French Guiana their permanent home. The former are among those most
likely to report having had a positive experience since arriving at 94%, along
with 98% of Brazilians and 60% of immigrants in general; despite nearly half of recent arrivals reporting experiencing difficulties since arriving in French
Guiana.
*INSEE is the French National Office of Statistics and Economic Studies
**INED is the French National Office for Demographic Studies
The is writted from a report which can be found on this link ; there's lots more information and the report goes on to discuss family make-up trends and ageing trends.
