• IP addresses are NOT logged in this forum so there's no point asking. Please note that this forum is full of homophobes, racists, lunatics, schizophrenics & absolute nut jobs with a smattering of geniuses, Chinese chauvinists, Moderate Muslims and last but not least a couple of "know-it-alls" constantly sprouting their dubious wisdom. If you believe that content generated by unsavory characters might cause you offense PLEASE LEAVE NOW! Sammyboy Admin and Staff are not responsible for your hurt feelings should you choose to read any of the content here.

    The OTHER forum is HERE so please stop asking.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy: We have too many FTs!

Rogue Trader

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
Too many foreigners in France: Sarkozy

2012-03-07 14:03

Paris - President Nicolas Sarkozy declared on Tuesday that there are too many immigrants in France, as the country's presidential election campaign became caught up in issues of religion and identity.


Defending a re-election campaign promise to cut the number of new arrivals in half, Sarkozy bluntly declared that France's attempts to integrate foreign arrivals into its culture and society had become paralysed.

"Our system of integration is working more and more badly, because we have too many foreigners on our territory and we can no longer manage to find them accommodation, a job, a school," Sarkozy said.

Sarkozy has been accused of tacking to the right in the run up to the April 22 first round of the French presidential election in order to recruit voters tempted by anti-immigrant candidate Marine Le Pen's platform.

But, in a television interview, he insisted that while immigration could remain "a boon" for France in many areas, it must be controlled more tightly through tougher residency qualifications for newcomers.

"Over the five-year term I think that to restart the process of integration in good conditions, we must divide by two the number of people we welcome, that's to say to pass from 180 000 per year to 100 000," he said.

Dietary practices

Sarkozy also announced new plans to limit some welfare benefit payments currently available to immigrant workers to those who have enjoyed residency for ten years and have worked for five of those.

The hardening of his tone came after a week in which the issue of Muslim immigration and in particular Islamic and Jewish dietary practice has surged to the fore in the national debate, upsetting religious leaders.

Jews and Muslims came together on Tuesday to complain they were being used as pawns in the election, after first Le Pen then Sarkozy and finally his prime minister Francois Fillon criticised the production of halal and kosher meat.

"France's problems are so major, as we are in a period of crisis, so how can the issue of kosher meat and halal meat be a major problem for France?" asked an exasperated Grand Rabbi of France, Gilles Bernheim.

For its part, the French Council of the Muslim Faith slammed what it said was the use of Muslims as "scapegoats" in the election campaign in which halal slaughter of animals has become a hot-button issue.

The unusually strong reactions from the communities came a day after Fillon urged Muslims and Jews to consider scrapping "outdated" slaughter rules.

Le Pen launched the halal debate last month when she claimed all meat from Paris region abattoirs was prepared using Islamic halal traditions and that non-Muslim consumers in the capital were being misled.

Labelling meat

Like kosher slaughter, the halal method requires the abattoir to kill the beast by slitting its throat. Stunning the beast first - as is done in non-ritual abattoirs - to lessen its ordeal is not permitted.

It later emerged that Paris region abattoirs mostly supplied local Muslim butchers and that most meat sold in Paris came from outside the region.

But the issue stuck and on Saturday Sarkozy suggested meat should be labelled to tell consumers how the animal was slaughtered.

France is home to western Europe's largest Muslim minority, officially estimated at least four million, and its largest Jewish community, estimated at up to 700 000.

The country has for years been debating how far it is willing to go to accommodate Islam, now its second religion, and Sarkozy and Le Pen have both made the matter a central issue in their campaigns.

Francois Hollande, the Socialist candidate and frontrunner in opinion polls, said his rivals had now gone too far and called for "restraint".

France will vote in the first round of a presidential election on April 22, followed by a second-round run-off on May 6. All recent opinion polls forecast that Hollande will emerge victorious.

- SAPA
 

Rogue Trader

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
Sarkozy wants 'illegals' out

Reuters March 12, 2012 1:13 AM

President Nicolas Sarkozy threatened in a key election rally Sun-day to pull France out of Europe's 26-nation, visa-free zone unless the European Union does more to keep out illegal immigrants.

Sarkozy, who this week said France had too many foreigners, made the threat at a 60,000-strong meeting that he hopes will turn the tide in his flagging campaign against front-running Socialist Francois Hollande. The election is 42 days away.


The passport-free zone must urgently be overhauled to fight the flow of illegal immigration, said the right-wing leader, returning to a theme that helped him win election five years ago.


To wild cheering, Sarkozy said unchecked immigration would put extra strain on social safety nets for Europe's poorest. "In the coming 12 months, if there is no serious progress towards this, France would then suspend its participation in the accords," he said.


The zone is home to 400 million Europeans who can cross borders of individual countries without a pass-port. Once inside, illegal immigrants also can move freely between the participating states.



© Copyright (c) The Province



 

Rogue Trader

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
I am keeping this thread alive to demonstrate dog shit politics.

France is one of the EU countries most devastated by slack immigration laws. Paris has become almost "unlive-able" to French citizens because of the years of poor immigration policy making and lack of integration programmes. Ask around and you will be surprised at how low Parisian white collar workers actually earn.

To win votes, Nicholas Sarkozy is now trumpetting anti-immigration plans in his presidential campaign.

See what happens after election....
 
Top