E/CN.4/1996/72/Add.3 page 4 member of the National Front, refused to meet with the Special Rapporteur, cancelling the meeting on one day's notice without giving any reason for her refusal. 9. In Paris, the Special Rapporteur met with Mr. Jean Glinasty, Director of the Office of International Organizations in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 10. The detailed programme of the mission is annexed to this report (annex I). 11. The Special Rapporteur wishes to thank the French Government for its welcome, its meticulous organization of this visit and the availability of its representatives. He also thanks the representatives of trade unions and non-governmental organizations who graciously spent time with him. Preliminary observations 12. France is experiencing problems with the integration of foreign populations or French citizens of foreign origin that are typified by the “problem suburbs” on the outskirts of several large cities. In these suburbs, where there are concentrations of immigrant populations which seem to have been left behind by the process of the development of French society, there are tensions that originate in the economic crisis and its corollary, social exclusion, a national identity crisis, ethno-cultural problems, discriminatory practices, particularly in the fields of employment and housing, and a degree of xenophobia in people's way of thinking. 13. The wave of xenophobia currently sweeping over France feeds on the attitudes adopted and statements made for electioneering purposes by politicians, on both the right and the left. It is not attributable only to the far right, which makes foreigners the scapegoats, particularly if they are Black, Arab or Muslim. Xenophobia in France today is sustained by the Pasqua Acts, which, it must not be forgotten, are laws of the French Republic. 14. The economic crisis, on the one hand, and the identity crisis, on the other, are aggravated by the claims of people of French stock to ascendency over naturalized French citizens and immigrants; hence the reference to the theme of national preference, with its xenophobic and even racist content, in political speeches. 15. There has also been an increase in anti-Semitic incidents (desecration of cemeteries, graffiti, dissemination of publications) which reflect the growth of anti-Semitism. 16. The French authorities have evaluated the scope of such phenomena and are trying to reverse these trends by strengthening anti-racist legislation. Measures have also been taken in the economic and social fields (urban policies) to encourage the gradual integration of immigrant populations and appeals by associations for tolerance and respect for the dignity of others are helping to bring about a change in attitudes.