These are not refugees anymore, these are really prisoners of war, grouped together by the hundreds in small towns that offer them no ressources.

Frédéric Bastiat
Complete Works, Volume 7, pages 1 to 4 (in French)
1834

I am here entering the last volume, number 7, of the Complete Works published between 1862 and 1864, which did not exist in the edition of 1855.

The petition in question here aimed at avoiding a renewal of a law dated April 21st, 1832 that attempted to “manage” the influx of Polish refugees in France. Frédéric Bastiat exposes the arbitrary aspect of administrative decisions that will place them here or there in unknown towns where they do not have any ressources, moreover in a brutal manner (he cites an example in which the refugees received an order at 9 o’clock to move by midday).

This approach reminds me of the sad example of the Calais Jungle in the 21st century in which refugees are handled like cattle after having been denied all freedoms (as they are “paperless”, their rights are particularly limited). What is depressing is that France is still unable to put in place institutions that would allow to “manage” the migrations of refugees. I do not know what the solution to the issues they create should be but what is certain is that not allowing an asylum seeker or a migrant to work for months or years on end is part of the problem. As today’s quote is highlighting, if we deny people the freedom to move and to work, they are like prisoners of war at the cost of society, unable to sustain their most primary needs.