The lower house of the French parliament voted through a charming new law yesterday. Henceforth, anyone who has been a French citizen for less than ten years and who has killed a policeman or a fireman will be stripped of French citizenship. Presumably, those who were born French can do anything they please without fear of losing their nationality, since they are white.
Further, the new law makes it easier to deport people – we’re talking Roms here – on the grounds of aggressive panhandling and squatting of public or private land. Doesn’t matter if they’re from EU countries or not.
Sarkozy’s minister of immigration, Eric Besson, says the law is “strongly symbolic.”
I’ll say.
The country is wracked by strikes and in need of reform. Unemployment has skyrocketed. Fiscal policy favors the rich. The plight of the slums is neglected. The problem of racism remains unaddressed: fully 40% of Arab and black French people who obtain doctoral or post-doc degrees emigrate to Canada, Australia and other countries.
So what does Sarko’s government do? It drums up a loud, unnecessary, inhumane law to strip French delinquents of their citizenship. Pure window-dressing. Even some members of Sarko’s party couldn’t vote for it.
The French government is a disgrace. It will do anything to distract attention, even something profoundly undemocratic and at odds with France’s admirable traditions.
Voltaire and Diderot are spinning in their graves.
No comments:
Post a Comment