France is nervous about welcoming a wave of Afghan refugees
Europe's media and political leaders seem to have a different tone on Afghan refugees influx compared to those of US. France appears to be grappling with a more complicated situation relatively.
Anti-Charlie Hebdo demonstration turns violent in Kabul
At least two people were killed in a protest against French magazine Charlie Hebdo in Afghanistan 31.01.2015
Gandhara, RFE/RL
Rally Held In South Afghanistan In Support Of Charlie Hebdo Attackers
France is nervous about welcoming a wave of Afghan refugees
20 August 2021
Gavin Mortimer
A protest against Emmanuel Macron in downtown Kabul (Getty images)
Emmanuel Macron has once more infuriated many in France, but this time it has nothing to do with Covid passports or mandatory vaccination.
In an address to the nation this week, the president discussed the disturbing scenes from Kabul as the Taliban invaded the capital of Afghanistan. France, he said, would be a haven for those Afghans 'who share our values' but nevertheless the country must 'anticipate and protect ourselves against significant irregular migratory flows that would endanger the migrants and risk encouraging trafficking of all kinds.'
His rhetoric went down badly with much of the French left. 'Sordid' was how two MPs of La France Insoumise summed up the president's speech, while the Green MEP, Yannick Jadot (a candidate in next year's presidential election) tweeted that he was 'aghast' to hear Macron describe those fleeing the Taliban as irregular migrants rather than the victims they were.
The Green mayor of Grenoble, Éric Piolle, said that Macron had 'shamed France', and he has stated that his city is ready to welcome Afghans seeking refuge from the Taliban. Similar messages were issued by the mayors of Lyon, Besançon, Strasbourg and Tours, all controlled by the Greens; the Socialist mayors of Marseille and Clermont-Ferrand have also offered their cities to Afghans.
Like Macron, Estrosi was excoriated by the Greens – who have replaced the Socialist party as the voice of the French left – with his statement denounced as 'insupportable'. But Estrosi has the support of many French people, plenty of whom are sceptical that their president will act with the firmness he promised on Monday.
After all, it's not the first time Macron has vowed to bring order to the EU's chaotic borders. In a speech in September 2017, Macron outlined what the Elysée billed as a 'new initiative for Europe'. The president said there were six keys to European sovereignty, the second of which addressed the migration challenge.
'We must create a common area of borders, asylum and migrations, to effectively control our borders, welcome refugees with dignity, integrate them fully and swiftly send those who are not eligible for asylum back to their home countries,' he pronounced, adding that it was imperative that the EU 'establish European border police that ensures rigorous management of borders'.
Four years on and Europe's borders are as porous as ever, as the Tunisian terrorist proved last October in crossing the Mediterranean to commit his outrage in Nice. Earlier this month, a Rwandan immigrant – already under investigation for setting Nantes' cathedral on fire last year – was arrested on suspicion of murdering a Roman Catholic priest in western France. It has since emerged that the alleged killer had already been ordered to leave the country.
But there is another reason why many in France are hesitant about accepting an uncontrolled number of Afghans into their country. They recall how tens of thousands of Afghans (20,000 alone in the city of Héra) took to the streets in 2015, a fortnight after Islamists had shot dead the staff of Charlie Hebdo, to protest against the magazine's subsequent issue that depicted the prophet on its front cover.
And they remember, too, another demonstration against the satirical magazine in 2019 that lasted three days and involved furious protestors burning the French flag, chanting 'Death to France'. This was a time when Afghanistan was supposedly liberal and enlightened, free from the ultra-conservatism of the Taliban.
Twenty years ago, France welcomed a wave of refugees from Chechnya who were fleeing the war with Russia; a minority have subsequently become radicalised, and in recent years there have been two brutal Islamist atrocities committed by young men of Chechen origin, including the beheading last October of the schoolteacher Samuel Paty.
spectator.co.uk/article/france-is-nervous-about-welcoming-a-wave-of-afghan-refugees
French court convicts Afghan just days after Kabul evacuation
26/08/2021
A French soldier watches as Afghans board an A400M Atlas military transport aircraft at Kabul airport on August 24, 2021. © French army handout via AFP
FRANCE 24 Follow
A French court has handed a 10-month suspended jail sentence to an Afghan man for violating a surveillance order days after France evacuated him from Taliban-controlled Kabul, intensifying a domestic political row over suspected links between at least one evacuee and the Taliban.
The man, Ahmat M., is one of five people who were placed under surveillance after their arrival in France as part of an investigation into possible links with the Taliban.
Another man, not Ahmat M, is suspected of working for the Taliban despite helping France evacuate nationals and Afghans in danger. He and four others deemed close to him, including Ahmat M., were placed under surveillance earlier this week.
The surveillance order included strict limits on movements and Ahmat M., who arrived at the weekend, was convicted by a court late on Wednesday for straying outside of this zone.
france24.com/en/france/20210826-french-court-convicts-afghan-just-days-after-kabul-evacuation
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