Human Rights at Home and Abroad: Past, Present, and Future

One of the major problems after the war was the status of the Pieds-Noirs. They were of
European origin but by 1962 the Pieds-Noirs had been removed by multiple generations from any
relatives living in France. The Pieds-Noirs were now outcasts in their home country of Algeria which led
an estimated 800,000 to 900,000 of the 1,000,000 Europeans to leave the country after the war and head
to France. 25 Those that left made up the better part of Algeria‘s skilled work force and nearly all of those
who owned or ran businesses. 26 The mass exodus of the Pieds-Noirs left a massive gap in Algeria‘s
economy and in many of its major cities and towns. It was said that in some cities such as Oran, ―one
[could] walk long distances past shuttered shops… [and] vacant property under the protection of the
government.‖ 27 Because large parts of the cities were inhabited by the Pieds-Noirs the economic loss was
substantial and France had to prop up Algeria‘s economy by giving it about $700,000 a day for the
remainder of 1962 until Algeria‘s economy had recovered enough to sustain itself. 28 The Pieds-Noirs left
because they no longer belonged in their own country with a population that now resented their presence.
They also left because of violence against them such as the massacre in Oran where an estimated 3,000
Europeans were killed. Many of the Pieds-Noirs left everything they had and went to France because
being unwanted in France was exponentially safer than being unwanted in Algeria.
In addition to being outcasts in Algeria the 900,000 Pieds-Noirs who took the boats to France
were disliked there as well. In the eyes of the French people they were unwanted immigrants who would
take jobs and overcrowd the already full cities. This was true initially because for many weeks many of
the arriving Pieds-Noirs slept in the streets of the cities or barns in small towns. 29 Most had no relatives
living in France, had nowhere to go, and had no way of getting immediate work. Although there was
some hostility initially to their ―return‖ to France they were eventually accepted back into society because
25 Neville Barbour, ―Algeria, the Taste of Independence,‖ The World Today 19 no. 5 (May 1963): 185.
26 Ibid.
27 Ibid.
28 Ibid., 186.
29 Ibid., 184.
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