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Thousands rally in Paris against new draft of immigration law

Thousands took to the streets of Paris, on Saturday, to protest against the new draft law on immigration and asylum proposed by French Minister of the Interior and Overseas Gerald Darmanin.

Footage shows protesters marching with flags, banners, and signs reading “Let’s destroy the racist system”, “Freedom of movement and settlement for all”, and “Darmanin, we don’t want your law”.

“We are asking the French government, which calls itself the country of human rights and whose motto is ‘Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood’ to regularize all undocumented migrants unconditionally,” said one of the protesters, Mamadou Trame.

Another demonstrator, Josiane, said that racism is a French societal problem with the media contributing, while foreigners are usually associated with problems involving security in the country.

“Even Darmanin himself, when he says ‘the immigration law’, very often associates it with security, as if foreigners were responsible for everything that’s going on and for all the insecurity there can be. Security is also a problem of poverty, it’s a problem of neighborhoods, it’s a problem of public service, and that’s what needs to be reviewed first and foremost,” she declared.

According to reports, protesters started their march from Paris’ iconic Place de la Republique towards the Church of Saint Bernard de la Chapelle, where in August 1996 around 300 undocumented African migrants permanently living at the temple were forced to leave it.

Minister Darmanin claims the proposed law set the goal for promoting the integration of migrant workers in France while enabling the government to deport undocumented migrants.

Under the “Darmanin law”, migrants living in France would have to meet several requirements, including proficiency in the French language. In addition, the minister claimed the government would “make life impossible for irregular foreigners” who have been issued with an order to leave French territory (OQTF), the main expulsion measure for foreigners.

(Source: Ruptly)


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