Fake work papers | France 2 | Envoyé Spécial

There are said to be between 200,000 and 400,000 people without papers in France. Nobody knows how many of them are working, but there are many who have fake work papers that allow them to sign on with temporary agencies, obtain a work contract or get accomodation.We followed some of these men and women who survive thanks to these precious documents. The explosion in the number of these “illegals” is forcing the OCLCO (Central Office Against Organised Crime) to intensify its hunt for traffickers and forgers. Today, increasing numbers of fake paper set-ups are being dismantled.Passing ourselves off as illegal immigrants, we very easily obtained fake papers with which we sought and found work as a chambermaid. For the French economy has a desperate need for workers. Often the employees aren’t fooled. They shamelessly exploit workers who can be worked like slaves because of their precarious status and fake papers, which will not protect them from being taken back to the border. However, in April 2008, several hundred workers without papers in the Paris region came out of the shadows. Despite the precariousness of their situation, some of them dared to show their fake papers in broad daylight. But for the few whose situation will be regularised, how many will continue to live under cover in France with their fake work papers?