Most French blame liberal immigration rules for riots – poll – RT World News
More than 70% of respondents want a reduction in the influx of immigrants, according to Le Figaro
Some 59% of French people want the government to toughen up an upcoming immigration bill in response to a recent wave of nationwide violence. While the government insists the rioters were “90% French” opposition politicians described the unrest as the start of a “race war”.
The French government has been working on a sweeping immigration bill since late last year, and lawmakers are expected to vote on a final version this fall. While the bill will make it easier for legal immigrants to obtain work permits, it grants the government broader powers to deport foreign aliens.
However, 59% of French people think the bill should be toughened in light of last week’s nationwide riots, according to a poll published Thursday by Le Figaro. According to the newspaper, nearly six out of ten French people consider the riots “the consequence of the failures of our migration policy.”
Violence erupted after police shot and killed a Franco-Algerian teenager as he refused to comply with a traffic stop in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on June 27. Although the officer in charge was charged with homicide, riots soon engulfed the country. Widespread arson and vandalism occurred, and rioters attacked police with fireworks and molotov cocktails, while some were filmed brandishing military-grade firearms.
The violence was mainly instigated by young people with an immigrant background. The French government has tried to play down the ethnic nature of the violence, with Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin saying on Wednesday that of more than 3,500 people arrested in the riots, only 10% were foreigners.
“The problem today is young offenders, not foreigners”, said Darmanin, noting that those responsible were “90% French.
Darmanin’s figures do not take into account second and third generation immigrants. Despite their French passports, these “the delinquents… shout their hatred of France and burn its flag”, MEP François-Xavier Bellamy wrote in Le Figaro on Wednesday. “Naturalization does not mean assimilation” Bellamy added.
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“It’s not rioting, it’s guerrilla warfare. A challenge to France, to our institutions, by a population seeking secession,” MP Nicolas Dupont-Aignan said on Friday. A week earlier, former presidential candidate Eric Zemmour had described the riots then raging as “a race war” solely attributable to “the number of immigrants” In France.
According to the Figaro poll, the French public is in favor of such harsh measures. Some 71% requested “a reduction in migratory flows” in response to the unrest, 75% called for dual nationals found guilty of rioting to be stripped of French nationality, and 90% demanded a greater police presence in affected neighborhoods.
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