In France, a substantial part of the population was born outside the country or raised by foreign-born parents. Many of them are French speaking and originate from former colonies in Africa. Irregular migration has attracted public attention frequently in the past decades, for example in connection with  ?sans-papiers? seizing churches and  the camp Sangatte that hosted irregular transit migrants to the UK. Particularly since 2005, policy responses have been highly restrictive, with increased policing of the borders and the interior.