Re-homing France’s immigrant workers
The Documentary Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 8 July 2025
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
France’s last foyers – housing for immigrant workers – are set for demolition. But some current residents are worried about what they’ll lose.
Hundreds of “foyers” - housing units especially for immigrant workers – were built after World War II. The economy was booming and France needed unskilled labour to help rebuild the country. But since the 1990s there has been a policy to get rid of the old foyers and replace them with a type of social housing. However, residents of the old foyers fear they are going to lose out in this transformation. Carolyn Lamboley has been visiting some foyers around Paris and speaking to those who for decades have called these places home. They fear for the break-up of their communities, for a loss of their culture and the little they have.
This episode of The Documentary comes to you from Assignment, investigations and journeys into the heart of global events.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | It was while I was reading the local councils magazine where I live in Saint-Denie, a Paris suburb, |
| 0:05.5 | that a small article caught my eye. It was about the demolition of a foyer de Traveyor |
| 0:10.2 | Migrant, housing built for immigrant workers. Once it's gone, it will be replaced with a new |
| 0:15.8 | residence social housing for young professionals and those trying to get on the property ladder, |
| 0:21.7 | the article said. |
| 0:23.2 | I was intrigued about what would happen to those who used to live there. |
| 0:26.8 | And so I decided to find out more. |
| 0:30.7 | Welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service with assignment from France. |
| 0:37.7 | Now he wants to search us old retirees out, says Baer de Moukoudi. |
| 0:47.0 | He's 71 years old from Mali and West Africa, but has been living in France for over 50 years. |
| 0:54.0 | For most of that time, home has been this foyer, |
| 0:57.1 | housing built especially for France's immigrant workers. |
| 1:00.1 | But now he fears he's going to lose it. |
| 1:06.5 | I'm Carolyn Lombolet, in an underprivileged suburb Sandini where I live, |
| 1:10.4 | just north of the capital, Paris. We're not prepared the same, or would I'm Carolyn Lombly in an underprivileged suburb Saint-Dunee where I live, just north of the capital Paris. |
| 1:20.0 | There's an important meeting today with the company which owns the building and is pushing through with big changes. |
| 1:26.1 | They're going to replace this 13-story tower block, |
| 1:28.9 | Sikyeros, with new social housing. |
| 1:31.7 | But residents like Béryde Mou are worried about what will disappear as a result. |
| 1:44.6 | Social housing is no good for us. It's not going to have this lesion social. It's just for us. |
| 1:48.3 | Social housing is no good for us. |
| 1:50.5 | We should never have accepted it. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.