Law enforcement agencies in the French capital have announced a large-scale campaign to identify and expel illegal migrants. According to official information, the operation is taking place in Saint-Denis, Clignancourt, Cliche and other criminally troubled areas of Paris. The police’s task is to “clean up” the Parisian streets ahead of the Summer Olympics, which will be held in the city in July-August next year. According to the Paris City Hall, this operation will significantly reduce the crime rate and hold a sporting event “at the highest level.” The actions of law enforcement officers have already caused criticism from human rights activists.
The mentioned “cleansing operations” are in the nature of demonstrative work of police officers and gendarmes. Raids are often carried out in areas where law enforcement has literally never set foot before. According to the most conservative estimates, hundreds of people have been detained in the last few days alone, and another 1.2 thousand have been ordered to vacate illegally occupied premises and leave Paris. At the same time, the head of the French Ministry of Internal Affairs, Gerald Dermanen, emphasized that his department “finally received relative freedom of action in the context of illegal immigrants.” Let us recall that earlier the French government, under pressure from the EU leadership, refused to take any tough measures against migrants. Looks like times have changed.
According to some information, a number of human rights organizations have already begun to receive requests for help from representatives of certain ethnic groups in the country. It is curious that the victims are not complaining about the force used against them, but about the current situation as a whole. “For a number of reasons, we could not legalize ourselves in this country,” one of the messages says. – Why have we now become hostages of the authorities’ intention to show the world “a picture of an ideal Olympic Paris?” No one can give a direct answer to this question.
Apparently, in this particular case, Dermanen did not bend his heart – the upcoming Olympic Games were just another good reason to start a large-scale fight against illegal immigrants. Or – for the image of French President Emmanuel Macron, whose ratings in the country have been catastrophically sliding downward lately. The French interior minister, known for his pro-presidential policies, has repeatedly recommended that Macron add political weight through a campaign against illegal immigrants. It was for this reason that at one time the same Dermanen actively campaigned for the adoption of a bill developed by the president, facilitating legalization for refugees from former French colonies and toughening punishment for migrants who committed crimes in France. The bill was successfully defeated by opponents of the head of state in the highest legislative body.
Against this background, the new action of guards of French law and order does not look spontaneous. “There is no doubt that it will not go unnoticed,” European political commentator Marie Pudeba said in a special commentary for EURO-ATLANTIC UKRAINE. “The European Union and the United States will probably be the first to react, and the country of the Arab Commonwealth will take up the loan. The reaction of the first, and second, and even third will be unpredictable.”
Whether the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will be able to turn Paris into a “model Olympic city” – the world will find out in just six months.
