Reaction to François Hollande's call for France to create refugee status for US researchers 

Former French President François Hollande's call for scientists ‘forced into exile by the Trump administration’ in the US to be recognised as refugees and welcomed to Europe has been met with some scepticism on his social media. 

Speaking to the Assemblée nationale on April 14, Mr Hollande spoke out in support of universities, in particular Eric Berton, president at the University of Aix-Marseille, and called for an official ‘scientific refugee status’. 

This would enable scientists to work under good conditions, while promoting “innovation and scientific, French and even European diplomacy”, he said.

However, the call has so far been met with a muted reaction on social media, with users remarking that France would do better to welcome 'real' refugees from war zones, such as Gaza.

Many users noted that French scientists have long gone to Anglophone countries for higher wages, and could easily encourage them to return by paying more.

Other comments include:

• "If there are job vacancies, they should go to young French researchers"

• "If these scientists were so good, they would be snapped up by private companies all over the world."

• "If there is room for these ‘scientific refugees’, there is also room for our ‘unemployed scientists’."

• "If the Americans come to France, they'll have a good laugh when they see how poor our research is!"

Nonetheless, the ‘Safe Place for Science’ scheme - dubbed an ‘asylum programme’ for scientists from the US - has already received 300 applications, states Libération, in an open letter written by Mr Berton and Mr Hollande.

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Scientist testimonies

Most applications and messages of support have come through encrypted messaging services, and the university has reported that it has received what it called “worrying testimonies” about scientists’ fears for science and research under the Trump administration.

Some claimed they had been banned from conferences, and stopped from having their work published, the letter said. Long-time researchers have allegedly had to re-justify the usefulness of their work; had funding abruptly withdrawn; and crucial data deleted.

Some long-time experts have said they have suddenly started to have their views and research dismissed, with years of research having been interrupted.

Some even claimed that these changes mean that public health is under threat (due to changes in research on infectious diseases, oncology, immunology, and neurobiology) and others have said that there will be a major negative impact on environmental matters, including the prediction and management of natural disasters, the impact of pollution, and the study of global warming. 

In the humanities in particular, any research on gender, the status of women, and migration has been widely challenged, while some historians say that the administration has accused them of “rewriting history”.

‘Scientific refugee status’

“That is why we are making an urgent request, one that is commensurate with the times we are living in: the creation of a ‘scientific refugee’ status,” the letter reads in Libération. “We must offer a glimmer of hope to all those scientists driven from their laboratories and forced to seek asylum. 

“The current asylum mechanisms do not take into account the specificities of the academic environment and the threats to scientists in authoritarian regimes. 

“In the same way as journalists or political opponents when they are hindered, scientists must necessarily be able to be recognised as refugees in their own right.”

The university programme states that it would be available to scientists who “are suffering or risk suffering serious and individual harm to their academic freedom due to threats or arbitrary deprivation of liberty”.

A “dedicated scientific refugee status” would allow for faster and more efficient processing of requests - including speeded-up application processing for scientific visas - with clear eligibility criteria. 

It would also lay out clear pathways to enable these “refugee” professionals to become a legitimate part of the French scientific community, including receiving tailored support, and a guarantee that they will be able to continue their research, the programme states.