In an interview with daily newspaper Le Figaro Thursday, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said: “Our policy is clear: judge foreigners for what they do and not for what they are.”
Authorities were working to ensure that anyone appearing on terrorism alert lists or found to be engaged in radicalised behaviour is deported, Darmanin said.
Pour Le Figaro, le ministre de l’Intérieur @GDarmanin revient sur ce nouveau meurtre qui a endeuillé la police. Il détaille aussi sa politique contre l’immigration clandestine. https://t.co/KFZhkrPTbj
— Le Figaro (@Le_Figaro) May 6, 2021
However he conceded that expelling people from France had also been complicated by coronavirus border closures.
“We consider that a foreigner who has committed a serious act no longer has a place in France,” Darmanin said, adding that over the past three months 147 people had lost their asylum protections.
Revived trauma
Last month, a police administrative worker was stabbed to death in the Paris suburb of Rambouillet – the latest in a string of terror attacks that have targeted the security forces.
Stéphanie Monfermé, a mother of two, was posthumously awarded the Legion of Honour, the country’s highest distinction.
Prosecutors said a Tunisian-born man suspected of her murder had been heard shouting “Allahu akbar," Arabic for “God is great,” during the attack – which has revived the trauma of a spate of deadly Islamist attacks in recent years.
Polls show that violent crime and religious extremism is a major concern ahead of next year's presidential election, in which President Emmanuel Macron is expected to seek a second term.
