In the wake of yet another horrific murder allegedly committed in Paris by a foreigner, former President Nicolas Sarkozy declared that France needs to “change everything” in how it handles the “problem” of immigration.
There are growing demands for drastic immigration reforms following the murder of a young female student this month in an affluent neighbourhood of the French capital at the suspected hands of an illegal migrant, who was previously jailed in France for rape, released early from prison, and remained in the country despite having a deportation order.
Joining the chorus for change this week was former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who himself comes from a migration background, with his parental line stemming from the Hungarian aristocracy and his mother being of mixed Greek Jewish and French Catholic heritage.
“Immigration is a problem,” the Gaullist politician said according to Le Figaro, adding: “We have to change everything.”
Sarkozy laid out several areas of potential reform, arguing that all asylum claims from migrants who entered Europe illegally by crossing the Mediterranean from Africa “should be refused” and that all European nations should require that alleged refugees apply for asylum before coming to the EU.
Addressing the issue around deportations, such as countries refusing to accept the return of their nationals, the former president suggested that visas only be issued on the condition that their country of origin agrees to “consular return authorisations”.
The ex-Républicains leader also called for reform at the EU level, saying that decisions surrounding immigration policy and control of the Schengen area should not be left to Eurocrats in Brussels, but rather by a new body of national level interior ministers from the 27 member states, a move that would likely result in far stricter migration controls.
Finally, Sarkozy argued that the “only lasting solution” to the issue of illegal migration will be European-assisted economic development in Africa, a policy also advocated for by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. “Our destinies are linked,” Sarkozy said of Africa.
The murder of 19-year-old Philippine allegedly by a Moroccan migrant rapist with a deportation order has put increased pressure on the recently-installed government of former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier to clamp down on immigration.
While Barnier mostly staffed his cabinet with Macron loyalists, the new prime minister chose fellow Républicains party member Bruno Retailleau to head up the Interior Ministry and therefore the nation’s immigration policy.
On Sunday, Retailleau said that in light of the deeply divided National Assembly, he would “a thousand times yes” be in favour of putting a referendum before the French people on the issue of immigration.
The interior minister said that over the past 50 years, mass migration has had major impacts on French society, yet the public has not had the “opportunity to express their opinion”.
Despite the strong backing of the interior minister for an immigration referendum, a national vote would first require reforms to the French constitution, and it is unclear if President Macron and his neo-liberal faction would back such a change.
Retailleau’s support for a referendum on immigration puts him in line with populist National Rally leader Marine Le Pen, who has long called for such a vote and reaffirmed her party’s support for a referendum earlier this month, saying that RN “will unreservedly support any approach aimed at giving people the power to decide directly.”
Le Pen added: “Emmanuel Macron himself, in the chaos he has created, has levers to keep our democracy alive.”
