St. Florentin, France – Recent reports have indicated a rise in religious intolerance in France, especially its conservative old towns and villages. Amidst the old buildings and the picturesque landscape, there lies another world filled with frustration of idle young men born to Muslim immigrants in a deeply conservative, Christian land. Their isolation is extreme, their alienation profound and their future uncertain. But their situation is not unique.

    With European populations aging and shrinking, reopening the borders to immigration is becoming an economic necessity. Demographic pressures mean Muslims will probably be at the forefront of the next immigrant wave: by many estimates the majority of the 300 million Muslims already living along the Mediterranean's southern rim are under age 20, and the population there is expanding fast.

    As a result, the growing estrangement of France's second- and third-generation Muslims and the increasing discrimination directed against them have become pressing concerns for the French government today. "I'm worried about a certain Islamophobia that is developing in our country," Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said during a recent visit to the capital's largest mosque.

    In 1992, a restaurant owner across from the housing projects opened fire on some young Muslims following a dispute, killing one and paralyzing another. When the restaurant owner was sentenced to just six years in prison, there was a riot and images of burning cars in St. Florentin put the town on the national map. Gérard Magne, the mayor of St. Florentin, said the incident was a turning point and that the town had reached out to its young Arabs since then.

    "It's no longer explicit racism, but implicit racism," said Karim Sahmaoui, 20, a lean, sad-eyed man with white sneakers. He and others complain of job discrimination.

    Many people become so discouraged that they rarely leave the square half-mile of buildings where most of the town's Arabs live. Depression and drug use are common.

    Mayor Magne conceded that it was hard for the town's young Arabs to find their place and that most eventually migrated to larger towns.