Thread: French crackdown on migrants sparks revolt

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June 16, 2006 04:11 PM ET

French crackdown on migrants sparks revolt

All Financial Times NewsAbout 100 illegal immigrants queued on Friday outside the Luxembourg Palace, home to the French Senate in the heart of Paris's left bank, under the watchful eye of several policemen.

Many of the so-called sans-papiers looked nervous. But they need not have worried, as the police had no intention of arresting or deporting them. Or, at least, not yet.

Instead, the immigrants – mostly from Asia, Europe and Africa, such as Baouz Sehrine from Algeria – were granted entry to the upper house of parliament as guests of a group of leftwing senators protesting over Friday's approval of a contentious immigration bill.

Their protest is part of an intensifying wave of civil and political disobedience spreading across France against the government crackdown on immigration led by Nicolas Sarkozy, the tough-talking interior minister.

Mr Sarkozy sparked the latest controversy by ordering hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants – estimates of their number range from 200,000 and 400,000 – to be deported, along with their children once the school term ends in early July.

At the Senate on Friday, Mr Sehrine said his wife Ourdia and their three children were in danger of being deported any day. His two daughters, Liza, 6, and Tassadit, 3, attend a Paris school. Mr Sehrine said: "It makes me very afraid. When Liza has been in school here for four years, it seems criminal to send her to Algeria."

Liza was born in Algeria and came to France in 2002. But Tassadit and her 10-month-old brother Luca-Rafik were both born in France, which could make their family eligible for an amnesty agreed by Mr Sarkozy in a bid to calm the controversy.

Mr Sarkozy this week issued new guidelines to local prefects telling them to be more lenient in granting residency to families with children born in France, who have been in French schools for a year, or who speak fluent French after arriving at a young age.

Opinion polls show a majority of French people favour expelling illegal immigrants. But there has been a backlash against the move to expel young schoolchildren, often born in France and speaking only French, to their parents' country of origin.

Parents and teachers are taking turns to harbour children who are threatened with deportation and who have gone into hiding. Dozens of schools are holding days of protest. Groups of illegal immigrants are going on hunger strikes.

The rebellion against expulsion of schoolchildren is the latest chapter in France's struggle to come to terms with an exploding immigrant population, mirroring similar arguments in the US and elsewhere in Europe.

Richard Moyon, co-founder of the Education Without Borders teachers' association, who organised Friday's protest in the Senate, blames the government's "restrictive and repressive" policies for fuelling anti-immigration feeling.

Mr Moyon, a history teacher in a Paris suburb, said: "The popularity of expelling sans-papiers is a result of the government blaming everything – unemployment, crime, Aids – on immigrants."

Their protest is part of an intensifying wave of civil and political disobedience spreading across France against the government crackdown on immigration led by Nicolas Sarkozy, the tough-talking interior minister.

We're experiencing "civil and political disobedience" now. Unfortunately, many of our elected governmental officials are the cause of the problem, not the cure. Hopefully, with immense pressure, we can redirect them on to the correct path to solving our "crisis."

Opinion polls show a majority of French people favour expelling illegal immigrants. But there has been a backlash against the move to expel young schoolchildren, often born in France and speaking only French, to their parents' country of origin.

they can learn the language of their native country and become bilingual

EVERY country has the right to expel illegals even if they happen to be American citizens

Opinion polls show a majority of French people favour expelling illegal immigrants. But there has been a backlash against the move to expel young schoolchildren, often born in France and speaking only French, to their parents' country of origin.

Gee, sounds kind of familiar, doesn't it?
Good to see the Frenchies eating a little crow for a change.
I wonder if they like it boiled or fried?

deja vu