French Far-Right Farmers Embrace Moroccan Workers Amid Labor Shortage

"I hire foreign labor because I have no one else. I don’t see why we couldn’t vote for the Rassemblement national and bring in foreigners to work," said Pascal, 57, a son of farmers, a market gardener in Lot-et-Garonne, and a supporter of the Rassemblement national, in an interview with Radio France. He issues them work contracts, allowing them to obtain a residence permit. These foreign seasonal workers help him increase his yields. However, he believes there is an immigration problem in France. "The goal is to stop this abusive immigration that brings foreigners into France who only come for the social [benefits]."

Like Pascal, David, 40, a farmer in Charente-Maritime, employs foreign seasonal workers. He runs the family farm. The cultivated area has grown from 110 hectares to 400 hectares today. After his father’s retirement, he posted an ad on Pôle emploi to have an additional person to manage the farm. No applications received. "It’s the French who don’t want to go harvest the wheat. So don’t complain if the foreigners are there," he observes.

He manages to recruit through a farmer accustomed to calling on foreign seasonal workers for several years, Athmane, 36, from a farming family in Morocco. Since then, he is no longer really in agreement with certain values of the far right. For David, there is no need to protect France before bringing in foreign labor. The Moroccan seasonal worker and he have developed a friendly relationship, which is at the origin of his change of opinion or perception on the hiring of foreign seasonal workers.

"His mentality made me question a lot of things. What’s important in life? I really didn’t think I would get attached and put the employee at the heart of the farm like that."