[ad_1]
As part of the government offensive against ‘separatism’, mosques will be inspected while dozens of suspected ‘radicalization’ will be deported.
The French government launched a “massive and unprecedented” wave of measures to combat what it calls religious “extremism” against 76 mosques suspected of “separatism.”
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin tweeted his interview with RTL radio on Thursday, writing: “In the next few days, checks will be carried out at these places of worship. If these doubts are ever confirmed, I will ask for their closure ”.
He also said that 66 undocumented immigrants suspected of “radicalization” had been deported.
The government of President Emmanuel Macron has responded to several deadly attacks in recent weeks by promising to crack down on what Darmanin has called “the enemy within.”
76 mosques are now suspected of separatism.
In the coming days, controls will be carried out in these places of worship.
If these doubts are ever confirmed, I will ask for their closure. pic.twitter.com/Mq8DGnB2Pr– Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) December 3, 2020
Darmanin said 76 mosques out of more than 2,600 Muslim places of worship had been flagged as possible threats to France’s republican values and its security.
“There are in some concentrated areas places of worship that are clearly anti-Republican. [where] The imams are followed by the intelligence services and where the speech goes against our values, ”he said.
The inspections to be carried out are part of a response to two horrific attacks that particularly shocked France: the beheading of a teacher who showed his students cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad and the stabbing of three people in a Nice church.
Darmanin did not disclose which places of worship would be inspected. In a note he sent to regional security chiefs, seen by the AFP news agency, he listed 16 addresses in the Paris region and another 60 across the country.
The minister said that the fact that only a fraction of the 2,600 Muslim places of worship in France were suspected of selling radical theories shows that “we are far from a situation of widespread radicalization.”
“Almost all Muslims in France respect the laws of the Republic and that hurts them,” he said.
Muslim minority
In October, Macron unveiled a plan to address what he called “Islamist separatism” as he described Islam as a religion in crisis around the world, comments that upset Muslims in France and around the world.
France is home to the largest Muslim minority population in Europe, and some fear being collectively punished after a series of attacks in recent months.
On October 20, France ordered the temporary closure of a mosque on the outskirts of Paris as part of an offensive against those suspected of inciting hatred, following the assassination of teacher Samuel Paty, who had shown his class cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. .
The Great Mosque of Pantin, in a low-income suburb on the northeastern outskirts of the capital, had shared a video on its Facebook page before the attack that vented hatred against Paty, who was beheaded in broad daylight near his school.
France has also shut down two organizations – the Muslim charity BarakaCity and a civil rights group that monitors hate crimes – the Collective Against Islamophobia in France (CCIF); both have refuted government accusations that they harbored “radical” ties.
The government’s crackdown has left some Muslims feeling increasingly alienated in their own country. Some Muslim leaders, while backing the government’s fight against “extremism,” have warned him not to inadvertently lump the overwhelming majority of his faith into “hate mongers.”
[ad_2]
