The precarious housing, hygiene, and health conditions of African workers in France between 1956 and 1986: the case of 25 hostels for Mauritanians, Senegalese, and Malians in Paris and the inner suburbs

Abstract

This article is based on a scientific presentation given in January 1992 at the "International Scientific Conference commemorating the 10th anniversary of the creation of the National Institute of Public Health Research" (INRSP, now INRS), held at the CRES in Bamako. It was also our first presentation in Mali. The research focused on housing and hygiene conditions and their consequences on the health of African workers, primarily Soninke, from Mauritania, Senegal, and Mali, residing in hostels in Paris and its inner suburbs. The results showed that the 10,360 residents had 2,888 dormitories, averaging 3.5 adults per "room," in which a resident rarely had 3 square meters. According to the data collected, the hostel occupants had, on average, one toilet and one shower for every ten people. From a health perspective, tuberculosis affected an average of 10% of African workers in France annually, compared to 2 per 1,000 in Mali, 1 per 1,000 in Ghana, and 0.055% in mainland France. This research resulted from a survey conducted as part of our academic work: Master's, DEA (Diploma of Advanced Studies), and doctoral thesis in sociology at Paris 8 University between 1981 and 1986, in 25 hostels housing approximately 10,360 people. Some dormitories were occupied by more than 20 residents. The study was conducted using standard socio-anthropological methods: documentary research, quantitative and qualitative technical approaches, and participant observation. One of the merits of our study was to demonstrate the validity of our conclusion and recommendations, and indeed of our 1986 findings. These issues are now part of current events and certain economic and political discourses against illegal migration to Europe and its various demographic, human, social, and economic consequences. Today, it can be stated that the poor housing conditions and health of Black workers living in hostels in the Île-de-France region during the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and even 1990s have improved in some municipalities, such as Montreuil. For example, the Bara hostel and the Vincennes center of the same name. In the study area, there are practically no more dormitories with ten bunk beds. However, more than 85% of these unsanitary dwellings, most dating back to the 1980s or even earlier, were still inhabited in 2020. According to a French reader of our article, the document "remains doubly important:
-firstly, to preserve the memory of the conditions of this most dominated and exploited segment of the proletariat in France at that time;

-secondly, to ensure that we do not forget that tens of thousands of migrant workers are still housed in these Île-de-France hostels today, and that housing conditions have not improved significantly, even though tuberculosis rates have decreased considerably." It should also be remembered that the Black Africans surveyed during the 1980s were primarily immigrants with legal status. The present work aimed to contribute to the knowledge of the housing and hygiene conditions in which African workers lived in the region of the Senegal River in Paris and the inner suburbs.