Welcome

Last week, I saw the film Welcome, by French director Philippe Lioret. It tells the story of a young Kurdish refugee trying desperately to get to London, where his girlfriend has moved with her family. Having made it from Kurdistan, Bilal (played by Firat Ayverdi) finds himself in Calais with hundreds of others trying to get across the English Channel to the UK, where policies toward refugees are more generous than in continental Europe. The best way he can think of to make the final leg of his journey is to swim—just as soon as he learns how!

For me, the most interesting aspect of the film was the attitude of the French state, and many of the local people, toward these displaced people. The migrants in Calais are not deported, but neither are they allowed to become a part of French society (not that they want to—they’re in Calais because it’s as close to the UK as they can get). They live in camps; they are not permitted to work; they are not even allowed into local stores. What’s more, even providing assistance to them has been criminalized, so Bilal’s swimming instructor (Vincent Lindon) puts himself at risk when he helps Bilal, and the NGOs who provide food to the migrants risk being arrested.

Of course, racism and xenophobia in France is not exactly news. But it’s a good reminder that anti-immigrant hysteria is not confined to this country. And also a cautionary tale of what life looks like in a place where laws like Arizona’s SB1070 are already in effect.