French election: "Boot all the immigrants out, and everything will be fine...."
Candidates in the French presidential election are coming to use the word ‘immigrant’ like a ball to be kicked around from one side to another, analysts say. "Boot all the immigrants out, and everything will be fine. That’s the seductive and deceptive message from some candidates," says French professor Nonna Mayer.
French law forbids official ethnic classification of the population, but studies by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) put the percentage of foreign-born residents at above 10 percent of France’s 63 million people. About a third of these residents come from other European Union countries; but these are not the target of politicians.
At a college debate on ‘French Elections: Inequality and the Populist Turn’ last week, Mayer and other social scientists noted that overall the term "immigrants" has largely become synonymous with Muslims. The anti-immigrant rhetoric from parties such as the far-right National Front is in effect a rejection of Islam in France, they said.
Other political parties have rejected the targeting of immigrants. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the Left Front (Front de Gauche) has called Le Pen "semi-demented" and a "hypocrite" and says her party is "racist".
Socialist challenger Hollande has maintained a more neutral tone, saying that France’s duty is to integrate its immigrants. Over the past months, he has met with different religious groups, to explain his views and gain their backing. He has instead focused on the super-rich, pledging to raise their tax rate.
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=107471
Interesting times for the right in France.
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you.
