Reuters and AFP
The newspaper La Jornada
Wednesday, September 25, 2024, p. 24
Paris – France is likely to take much tougher measures on immigration and security to reflect a broader shift to the right in society, Bruno Retailleau, the new interior minister, said yesterday, in comments that suggested the minority government’s reliance on tacit support from the far right and drew sharp criticism.
Retailleau’s calls for a tougher line on asylum applications, violence against police, prison sentences, radical Islamism and drug trafficking underline the influence of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) in the newly installed government. Following the June election, the rising RN took a decisive position, signalling its tacit support for Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s new coalition.
Retailleau, 63, a veteran of the conservative Republicans party and an immigration skeptic, gave few details about his vision for the powerful Interior Ministry during Barnier’s first cabinet meeting on Monday.
But he has since been more explicit in a series of press interviews, telling the paper The Figaro which would reveal new measures in a matter of weeks, and that France must not refrain from strengthening our legislative arsenal.
My aim is to put an end to illegal entries and increase exits, particularly for illegal immigrants, because one should not stay in France when one has entered illegally.he told the newspaper.
The Federation of Associations Fighting Exclusion also condemned Retailleau’s statements on Tuesday and called for a clarification to conservative Prime Minister Michel Barnier on his immigration policy.
