Some immigrated during colonial rule in Algeria starting in the 1920s, and large numbers chose to emigrate to France from the 1960s onwards.
However, the French government viewed this is as a hostile move, assuming that these immigrants intended to stay in the country permanently.
[17] Additionally, some Maghrebis migrated to France because they would have more political freedom to protest French suppression in Algeria than they would in their home country.
African rights groups include the Algerian Populist Party and the Movement for the Triumph of Democratic Liberties.
The 1953 survey by the National Institute of Demographic Studies showed that North Africans and Germans were ranked last in sympathy levels for immigrants.
This impact is exemplified by a piece published by the L'Aurore, a French periodical, in which it was written: "In Paris, North Africans are specialists and record makers in the nocturnal attack.
The Arab is, quite precisely, the thief who waits on the corner of the road for the late passerby, whom he clubs for the sake of a watch..." – L'Aurore, 1954[17] In the 1960s, this sort of racial propaganda continued with the help of public health institutes.
[18] A study, published in 1963, entitled "Black workers in the Parisian region" (Les travailleurs noirs dans la region parisienne), outlined reasons for why, for public health reasons, African immigrants were not beneficial for France: "They are accustomed to wearing practically nothing in Africa where the temperature ranges from 90 to 100 degrees, and when they arrive in Paris, especially during the cold winter, they are highly prone to catching disease like tuberculosis".
These public health officials were under the impression that Africans ate only simple foods such as rice and beans, and therefore, could not survive the heavy workload required of them in France.
Thus, African immigrants in France were required to carry around passbooks with detailed medical information, and were often randomly stopped and checked by French officials.
[18] This type of racial bias showed a resurgence in the late 1980s and early 1990s with the French political party, the National Front.