Claude Guéant's "France doesn't need foreign bricklayers and waiters" racist remarks

Proving once again that he is in no way a racist and only makes comments that are factually correct and amount to the truth because he says so, France's interior minister Claude Guéant was back on familiar territory at the weekend.

Claude Guéant (from Wikipedia)

This time it was to tell the French that the country didn't need immigrants to fill positions as waiters in restaurants or builders because France already had enough people to fill the vacancies.

In a marvellous train of logic that seems to have become a Guéant speciality, the interior minister pointed to the country's 2.6 million unemployed, some of whom could presumably take up those low-paid jobs in restaurants and learn to flex their muscles as builders.

What he said during a radio interview on Sunday showed a true understanding of the nature of unemployment and how to get people back to work.

"Those people who are looking for a job cannot refuse to take up positions indefinitely and should have their benefit cut if they don't at some point take what they're being offered," he said.

"It's true that we need immigrants with skills and talents," he said, seeming to backtrack on comments he made a couple of weeks ago on the need to reduce legal immigration; comments which were also criticised by some within his own party at the time.

But remember this is Claude Guéant and what might at first appear to be a softening in tone turns out to be anything other and that.

"There are about 2,000 people we really need every year who have those skills and talents," he continued.

"But we don't need bricklayers or waiters because France already has the resources to fill those posts."

Ah the sensitivity and insight of the man!

Of course Gueant would probably deny that his comments are aimed at currying favour with those inclined to vote for the far-right Front National during the next presidential and parliamentary elections in 2012.

But that's exactly what Dominique Sopo, the president of the anti-racist non-governmental organisation SOS Racisme, thinks are behind the interior minister's thinking.

"There's currently a trend to create among the French a mistrust of foreigners as part of an attempt to appeal to those who might be attracted to the Front National," he said.

"But the direct consequence of these remarks is the rise in popularity of Marine Le Pen (the leader of the Front National) to an unprecedented level, one year away from the presidential elections."

Guéant might not yet have taken up the tongue-in-cheek offer Le Pen made of "honorary membership" of her party in March.

That offer came after his comments that the French were becoming worried about feeling at home in their own country.

But he's going the right way about securing himself another governmental job - maybe even as prime minister - should the unthinkable happen next year and the French return a far-right president: be that Le Pen or Nicolas Sarkozy.

The number of Moslems in France causes problems says Claude Guéant

He's at it again.

Hardly a week goes by - no strike that - hardly a day goes by - without France's recently-appointed interior minister, Claude Guéant, making a remark guaranteed to hit the headlines.



Guéant is proving himself to be the master of the provocative comment that doesn't just border on the racist, but is clearly meant to appeal to any xenophobic tendencies that might and do exist among some French.

And his comments have once again ignited outrage from the opposition Socialist party and angered anti-racist groups.

After saying that the "French didn't not feeling at home in France" and suggesting that "Obviously anyone working in a public service shouldn't wear a religious symbols or show any religious preference" Guéant has continued with the same theme.

"This growth in the number of Moslems and a certain number of behaviours causes problems," he said on Monday.

"There is no reason why the nation should accord more rights to one particular religion than others that were formerly anchored in our country."

Highly appropriate and timely from the interior minister given than the comments came on the eve of the debate organised by governing centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire's (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP) debate on laicity.

It's a debate which is supposedly about secularism but is really more about the place of Islam in French society and comes shortly before the implementation of the ban on wearing full face veils in public places on April 11.

It's surely hard to defend Guéant's comments, even if some of his cabinet colleagues such as the higher education and research minister Valérie Pécresse have tried, when she suggested that the "Left was trying to whip up anti-Claude Guéant propoganda."

The big question remains though, where is the Omnipresent One, usually so keen in the past to rein in ministers when they step out of line?

The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy has been noticeably quiet giving the impression that he is more than happy to allow his interior minister to be his "unofficial spokesman" in making an appeal to those who might be attracted to the far-right Front National and its leader Marine Le Pen in next year's presidential elections.

Perhaps it's Eva Joly, a European Member of Parliament for the Europe Écologie party, who best sums up the sentiment many have about why Sarkozy, far from reprimanding Guéant, could actually be encouraging him.

"Nicolas Sarkozy seems determined to overtake Marine Le Pen on the Right," she said after Guéant's most recent remarks.

"He's allowing his chief spokesman to 'surf' on subjects such as national identity, the Roma immigration and Islam," she continued.

"It has become an ignoble competition with the xenophobic Right."

Hear hear!

Najlae Lhimer, a family violence victim falls foul of French immigration laws

Najlae Lhimer is back in Morocco.

She has been there since last weekend after French authorities deported her because she was in this country illegally.

But the story of the 19-year-old isn't a just case of illegal immigration.

Instead it's surely an example of a law being zealously enforced without any respect to the rights of the individual and one which, as far as women's rights groups are concerned, makes a mockery of the government's policy to raise awareness of the issue of domestic and family violence.

Najlae first came to France at the age of 14, leaving Morocco to escape being forced into an arranged marriage.

She moved in with her brother in the town of Château-Renard in the centre of the country.

But as it turned out, life with him was far from easy to say the least.

He was reportedly a man with a reputation for being authoritarian, and one who didn't like to see his sister emancipated.

So much so that when he "found a cigarette butt" in her room last week, he hit her, to such an extent that she was unable to go to work for eight days.

Najlae decided to file a complaint against her brother.

But as Stéphanie Revillard, a friend who encouraged Najlae to go to the local police explained, rather than being seen as the victim, the 19-year-old found herself being questioned about her status here in France as she didn't have the required identity papers.

"In spite of the fact that she was injured, in spite of the fact that she was there to file a complaint against her brother and she was in fact the victim, she was detained," said Revillard.

And that detention quickly led to her deportation as the police contacted the local préfecture, an "expulsion order" was signed and Najlae put on a 'plane bound for Morocco.

Once there, she was taken into custody once again, this time for having "illegally fled her country" five years ago.

She has since been released and is currently being looked after by the local branch of le Réseau éducation sans frontières, RESF.

Women's rights groups in France have been quick to react to Najlae's plight and criticised the speed with which she found herself sent back to Morocco.

"The deportation of Najlae, a young woman who was in distress, is abominable," said Dominique Tripet from the Orléans branch of Droits des Femmes.

"It's an example of the increasing rapidity with which the (French) government violates human rights and republican values."

Speaking to the national daily Libération by 'phone on Monday, Najlae described what life had been like since she returned to a country she hasn't seen since she was 14 and where she apparently doesn't know anyone.

"After remaining 24 hours in jail, some members of RESF came to collect me," she said.

"I don't understand how or why I'm here," she added.

"I am lost ... "

A demonstration in support of Najlae is planned in the streets of Château-Renard for March 6.

According to France 3 television, Najlae's brother still hasn't been questioned by police.

France 3 Centre : Najlae, 19 ans, expulsée vers le Maroc
par Dj-Sheit

French unease over national identity debate

Opposition as to whether there's a need for a debate on what constitutes national identity here in France is continuing to increase, according to the latest opinion poll released in the national daily, Le Parisien-Aujourd'hui en France.

Half of those questioned weren't satisfied with the way in which the debate was being carried out.

And just as significant perhaps was the response to whether the debate should be stopped.

Again 50 percent said "yes": split between those who wanted it halted completely (29 per cent) and those who wanted it suspended (21 per cent).

For Jean-Daniel Lévy, the director of the CSA Institute that carried out the poll, the findings show that the French are sending out a clear message to their president, Nicolas Sarkozy, as even among supporters of the governing centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement) there is some apprehension.

"The survey indicates that a number of UMP supporters prefer not to express their opinion," he says.

"In not wanting openly to find fault with a debate which is being conducted at the wish of the president, his supporters are also avoiding criticising Sarkozy himself," he added.

These latest figures are significantly different from a similar poll carried out just before the debate was launched by the immigration minister, Eric Besson, at the beginning of November, when 60 per cent of French voters said they were in favour of the idea.

The question over whether there's need for a debate has stirred passions from the outset, with political opponents accusing Sarkozy of pandering to the right wing ahead of next year's regional elections.

Indeed even though the French might have given general support to the idea at the beginning, 64 per cent of them also perceived it as electioneering.

Along with the latest opinion poll there has been more opposition from other quarters this weekend.

The French non-governmental organisation, SOS Racisme, launched a petition calling for the debate to be ended saying that the fear of it being "at best stigmatising for the country and at worst racist" had in fact become a reality.

That was a view echoed by Pierre Moscovici, a prominent Socialist party member, during an interview on national radio on Sunday.

He insisted that France had no problem with its national identity and that Besson was simply the messenger carrying out "Sarkozy's dirty work."

The debate, he said had quickly created a link that somehow put into question national identity and being Moslem, and "was damaging to the republic and degrading to France."

In spite of the latest poll and mounting criticism, Besson appears to have lost none of his enthusiasm or determination to keep the debate going, and as he made clear in an in interview the same newspaper which published the survey, Le Parisien-Aujourd'hui en France, he even intends to extend its duration.

"The debate has been the object of a pounding for a month now and it's normal that some people should be sceptical," he said.

"Media attention has been focussed on some xenopobic remarks, but it (the debate) has partly been a victim of its own success," he continued.

"It's a debate that must unite, allowing us to look forward and provide answers to questions that might sometimes raise doubts among the French," he insisted, adding that, "We will debate this until the end of 2010 well beyond the regional elections (in March)."

French national identity - the grand debate

Politicians and the media in France have been literally falling over themselves in response to an interview given by the immigration minister, Eric Besson, last weekend in which he said he wanted to launch a major discussion over "national values and identity".

To start from the beginning of November it will be, in the words of the minister, a debate to determine how best “to reaffirm the values of identity and the pride of being French.”

Not surprisingly perhaps reactions came thick and fast with the media quickly jumping on the story.

Radio and television stations asked audiences what they thought about the idea and newspaper websites invited comments.

Reactions from politicians ranged from support from members of the governing centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP) party to scepticism or outright condemnation from opposition parties.

Frédéric Lefebvre, the UMP spokesman welcomed the idea saying that it wasn't "the return of a debate on national identity that should be surprising, but the blurring of that identity."

The leader of the centre Mouvement démocrate (Democratic Movement MoDem) party, François Bayrou, though was more guarded, insisting that defining or determining "national identity is not for politicians."

"It's like history," he said. "It's not up to politicians to try to monopolise the subject."

For Vincent Peillon, a European parliamentarian for the Socialist party, the call for opening a debate on national identity was symptomatic of a certain "sickness" in France and would have an negative effect on how the country was viewed by others throughout the world.

"France has never talked about national identity," he said. "And it's dangerous to open the debate like this."

Benoît Hamon, the spokesman for the Socialist party, was harsher in his reaction accusing Besson of pandering to the far-right Front national (FN) ahead of next year's regional elections in making illegal immigration a central issue before the vote in March.

"Eric Besson is applying the ideas of the FN," he said.

"He's cynically carrying out parts of its (FN's) programme," he continued.

"It's all part of government policy of keeping illegal immigrants in a state of extreme hardship to dissuade them from coming. "

And from the FN itself came the call from Marine Le Pen for a "Grenelle on national identity" to be held, similar to the one there had been for the environment as her party had "a lot of things to say on the subject."

Maybe the most measured response though came from a member of the UMP itself, in the shape of the former prime minister and current mayor of Bordeaux, Alain Juppé.

Writing on his blog, Juppé cited the discourse "Qu'est-ce qu'une nation?" ("What is a Nation?") given by the French philosopher and historian, Ernest Renan, back in 1882.

"The definitions of the nation are numerous," writes Juppé. "It seems to me that the explanation given by Ernest Renan, remains unsurpassable," he continues before quoting from Renan's speech.

"In defining what the nation is, Renan said 'the essential element of a nation is that all of its individuals must have many things in common and they must also have forgotten many things,''" quotes Juppé.

"Renan also said a nation is 'a sense of solidarity, one that supposes a past but is summarised in the present by a tangible fact: the consent, the clearly expressed desire to continue living together,'" continues Juppé.

"Everything has been said," concludes Juppé.

"What's the point of starting the debate all over again?"

French bank blows whistle on illegal immigrant

Last weekend Yaro S. as he's being referred to in the French media, turned up at a branch of the bank Société Générale in the Parisian suburb of Boulogne to withdraw money from his account.

As is always the case for anyone wanting to make withdrawals, the cashier asked him to present some form of identity, and Yaro handed over his carte de séjour or residence permit.

The only problem was that it was a fake one. And on realising that, the clerk informed the police and went a step further by closing the doors of the bank and ensuring that Yaro was unable to make a getaway until they had arrived.

The 41-year-old Mauritanian was taken into detention and now faces deportation back to his country of origin.

The fake ID according to La Cimade, a French non-governmental organisation that offers legal assistance to undocumented immigrants, was exactly the same piece of identity Yaro had given when opening the account in the first place back in 2005.

Moreover Yaro, who has been living in France since 2002 and has been working in the kitchen of a restaurant, has a request pending with French authorities to regularise his status as a resident.

Now to some reading this, the actions of the bank staff might smack of "denunciation" and indeed unions have criticised any behaviour by bank employees, which might to many seem overzealous and give the appearance of them wishing "to participate actively in the political process of checking identity papers."

That is not the role of staff, but as a union official, Michel Marchet, points out, there is something of a dilemma.

"When they (the employees) realise a fake ID is being presented, they are required to report it," he says.

"It's not necessarily taking part in tracking down illegal immigrants, but an obligation to ensure that there is no fraud or money laundering occurring, something for which fake identities are often used," he adds.

Société Générale's position on what happened runs along the line of "it being the responsibility of the bank to ensure that the person withdrawing money is also the one to whom the account belongs".

But it neatly sidesteps the issue that the only way Yaro was able to open the account in the first place back in 2005 was by using the very same ID that became his undoing last weekend.

For La Cimade though, what has happened to Yaro is part of a disturbing trend here in France.

"This case is symptomatic of a growing tendency to 'inform' (on illegal immigrants)," it says, pointing out that over the summer three other cases of illegal immigrant being denounced have succeeded.

29,796 - a magic figure for Brice Hortefeux

That's the total number of illegal immigrants "expelled" from France last year, as announced by the minister of immigration, Brice Hortefeux, on Tuesday.

The figure was higher than the "target" - yes there really is such a thing here in France - set by his big boss, Nicolas Sarkozy, and represented a 26 per cent increase over the previous year.

"I'm proud to have respected and applied the law," said Hortefeux.

During the course of a one-hour press conference, he provided a long list of figures and statistics which as far as he was concerned were proof that the government's policy to crack down on illegal immigration was working.

"The fight against illegal immigration of course takes place within the realms of respecting an individual's fundamental rights," he said.

"For the first time in a generation, the number of illegal immigrants in France is on the decline," he added.

Of course groups involved in fighting for the rights of illegal immigrants or those here "sans papiers" were far from being in agreement with Hortefeux's message.

And they also cast some doubt on whether the claim that there were now fewer illegal immigrants in France was accurate.

Exact figures on how many people are living and working illegally here in France are reportedly hard to come by, and estimates range from 200,000 - 400,000.

Perhaps the feelings of many of Hortefeux's detractors - and there are plenty of them - were best summed up in the words of the humourist, actor and political commentator, Stéphane Guillon, in his rather cutting assessment during his broadcast on national radio France Inter.

"It's much better than the objective set by Nicolas Sarkozy, which was 28,000*," he said.

"Brice managed 1,796 extra expulsions. Everyone applaud. Please......It's proof that sometimes there are things the government does, that work....let's be fair," he added, no less critically.

Tuesday's press conference was probably Hortefeux's last in his current job.

Hortefeux himself wasn't too keen on the job he was given when Sarkozy came to power in May 2007.

A long-time friend and close ally of the French president, Hortefeux took over the newly created ministry in June 2007.

He has come in for plenty of criticism during his tenure, especially for pushing through government legislation in October 2007 to approve voluntary DNA testing of would-be immigrants seeking to join their family here in France.

But now he's expected to replace Xavier Bertrand as minister of employment - another contentious and delicate social policy portfolio - in a mini cabinet reshuffle this week.

Bertrand is stepping down from the government to take over the leadership of the governing centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP) party.

Hortefeux's likely replacement as minister of immigration is Eric Besson - a former Socialist party member and advisor to Ségolène Royal during her 2007 presidential bid, until the two fell out.



*some reports say the "target" was actually 26,000

Illegal immigrants, the easily forgotten many

With the financial crisis dominating the recent European Union summit in Brussels, it was easy to miss another important decision that will effect the daily lives of millions living within the 27-nation bloc and even more outside of it.

On Thursday EU leaders rubber stamped the European Pact on Immigration and Asylum.

Some six million illegal immigrants are currently thought to be in the EU and the principle behind the pact is to find a common way forward for the 27 countries to "manage" immigration, set limits and co-ordinate the labour needs of the bloc.

As France currently holds the six-month rotating presidency of the EU, it had the job of drawing up the so-called "preamble" to the pact.

And when leaders approved it on Thursday, they were formally recognising that, "the EU doesn't have the resources to receive decently all migrants hoping to find a better life here."

Cruelly put perhaps, that could be interpreted as a way of keeping the "unwanted" out while welcoming in those deemed "worthy".

Of course a proper in-depth look at the plight of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers isn't really the stuff of sound bites, 700-word posts or even the standard two-and-a-half minute slots on prime time news. But that's about what it got on last night's broadcast here on the national channel TF1.

All the same, and even though it was buried half way through the programme, it still drove home just how complex and complicated an issue it is.

Away from political decisions being taken in Brussels, the report took a look at the realities facing refugees in the northern French town of Calais.

There used to be a refugee camp in Sangatte just outside the town. It was closed down in 2002, by the then minister of the interior, Nicolas Sarkozy.

Since that time, those seeking to make the trip across the channel to the El Dorado that is supposedly awaiting them on the other side in Britain, have been forced to camp in the most appalling conditions.

They live in makeshift tents in the open air in an area that has been nicknamed "The Jungle". They're regularly rounded up and hauled off to the nearest police station, only to be released a little later.

Many don't have papers, and if they do, are often from countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan or Eritrea, with authorities unwilling or unable to expel them.

With little or nothing to eat, they rely on the generosity of voluntary organisations such as L’association la Belle Etoile, which serves food to ever increasing numbers.

On the day of filming there were more than 500 men, women and children standing in line, waiting.

The goal of those who have already travelled thousands of kilometres is to reach Britain, a country where many are convinced "life is good" according to one of the association's volunteers, Christian Salomé.

"For many, they have the impression that it's a country where everything is perfect," he said.

"When we speak to them, most of them tell us that they have a brother, a friend or someone from their village who's already there, and has passed on the information that the conditions there are magnificent," he added.

Although that's far from being the case as the report made clear, it remains a view clearly held by many who have made the journey this far and are ready in the early hours of the morning to try to stow themselves aboard a lorry bound for Britain.

The reality of what they can expect once there might be far from their dreams, but it surely cannot be as much of a nightmare as they're currently experiencing.

Many arrive in northern France already weak and sick, and volunteers, who have run a local medical centre since 2006 simply don't have the resources available to cope.

There are just four showers for 500 people.

"What we can provide here is just a brief shelter, said Mariam Rachid, one of those volunteers.

"We see women and children living under inhumane conditions. It's unacceptable."

After months of travelling to get as far as northern France, in conditions perhaps worse than the ones they're now experiencing, many are prepared to endure even more hardship in the hope of making the 34 kilometres that separate them from their final goal.

The cameras showed one man, whose face wasn't visible, insisting that across the channel awaited a better life.

"In Britain they'll give me money and everything I need to live," he said.

"Are you sure of that?" asked the reporter.

"Yes I'm certain," he replied. "That's why everyone wants to go there."

Of course last night's report is far from being an isolated case, either here in Europe or in many other parts of the world.

But when it's on your own door step - so to speak - it's hard to ignore, at least for the two-and-a-half minutes worth of television airtime it was given in French sitting rooms on Wednesday evening.

Immigration may be a political "problem" but as the report reminded those who were watching, it has a very human face.

Twice an orphan - barmy bureaucracy or welfare of the child? You judge.

Last weekend here in France an 11-year-old boy, Joris, found himself effectively orphaned for the second time. He was taken into care after his father, 34-year-old Aboubakar Coulibaly, was deported back to his native Côte d'Ivoire.

Coulibaly had been granted sole custody of Joris back in March 2006 after the child's mother committed suicide.

In spite of looking after his son for a year under the supervision of the local authorities in the west-central department of Maine-et-Loire and the agreement of a family judge, Coulibaly only had a temporary residence and work permit.

In addition he had a criminal record, thus in the eyes of the law disqualifying him from being allowed to remain permanently in France. Coulibaly had not only spent time in prison but had also been served deportation papers back in 2005.

Indeed the judge who made the decision to send him back last weekend maintained that Coubilay had only recognised paternity (apparently against the wishes of Joris's late mother) and sought custody of his child as a means to remain in this country.

French law states that a foreigner cannot be deported if he or she has lived regularly in France for 10 years or more and has custody of a French child.

Joris, like his late mother, has French nationality.

But supporters of Coulibaly say that he had served his time for a string of minor infractions, paid his debt so-to-speak to society and for the past couple of years had been a model citizen.

He was in regular employment, described by work colleagues and neighbours alike as diligent and courteous and most importantly looked after his son, according to campaigners from the movement Réseau éducation sans frontières (RESF).

They maintain that not only is the deportation and resulting separation of sole parent and child illegal, it's also immoral. The order had been served before Coulibaly had been granted custody of his child, they say, and hadn't been re-evaluated since the circumstances had changed.

For them this latest move flies in the face of the 2006 decision taken by a family judge, which had been made in the best interests of the child.

But French authorities see the case from quite a different angle.

Coulibaly had a string of convictions, they say - not all of them for minor infractions as maintained by his supporters. And over a period of time he had spent a total of three years behind bars.

He was not only in violation of a previous deportation order but according to Louis Franc, the general secretary of the préfecture of Maine-et-Loire, had also been the object of an investigation following accusations of sex with a minor. That's a claim of which Coulibaly's defence lawyers have reportedly never heard.

"What sort of future would he (Coulibaly) be able to guarantee an 11-year-old?" Franc asks and insists the deportation and the decision to take Joris into care were made in the best interests of the child.

So both sides tussling over the future of a child - and both maintaining that they only have his best interests at heart.

For the moment Joris is with a foster family and his father is back in Côte d'Ivoire.

Is it bureaucracy gone made or administration looking after the welfare of a child?