France rewards hundreds of front-line immigrant workers with citizenship

The French government is quickly pursuing almost 700 applications for citizenship from foreign front workers, who have distinguished themselves in the fight against COVID-19.

“Healthcare workers, cleaning professionals, childcare workers and store clerks … They have proven their commitment to the nation. It is now up to the Republic to take a step towards them,” the statement said. published on Tuesday by French junior minister for citizenship Marlene Schiappa’s office.

As of Wednesday, France has nearly 2.5 million confirmed cases of coronavirus and 61,702 people have died, according to the French government.

Applications for French citizenship can take years to complete, and the global pandemic has caused further delays in processing documents. In September, as France prepares for a second pandemic, the government called on regional officials to “facilitate” and “accelerate” the naturalization process of foreign workers who have been actively involved in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

In three months, more than 70 applicants have gained citizenship through their service and nearly 700 are in the final stages of receiving it, the Schiappa office said. So far, a total of 2,890 people have applied.

“They actively participated in the national effort, with dedication and courage,” Schiappa wrote in a letter to regional authorities at the time.

In 2019, over 112,000 people acquired French citizenship, including over 48,000 through naturalization, 18% less than in 2015.

This initiative “is a long tradition that can be traced back to the French Revolution, which is to grant citizenship to the country’s benefactors,” Didier Leschi, director of the French Office for Immigration and Integration, told Le Figaro.

This is not the first time France has recognized its contributions to the nation as a citizen.

In 2018, a young man from Mali He was offered French citizenship and a job as a firefighter after climbing an apartment building to save a child hanging from a balcony. The three Americans who thwarted a 2015 Terrorist attack on a train to Paris, French citizenship was also granted in 2019.