Nicolas Sarkozy says France "has too many foreigners"

It takes one to know one!

Vive La France and vive the Foreigners. After all, where would France be without foreigners? Well, a dull place for President Sarkozy himself is the product of immigration. His father came over from Hungary to settle. I suppose that, being some time ago, makes Sarkozy junior some kind of assimilated Frenchman and not "a foreigner". I well remember a row in the Seventies about who should represent France in Miss World. What sort of delectable French woman would fit the bill? She might be blonde, or a redhead (a bit of Norman in there?), or a Latin lady, or a brunette (proper French?), or one with Magreb background or an African Frenchwoman. It was quite a discussion. I can't remember the outcome, but this sort of thing has exercised the French over the years.

I was in Paris over Christmas. It is a cosmopolitan example of the new world. Exactly what Sarkozy is going to do about changing things, if change is what he desires, is hard to fathom. I witnessed a whole gang of immigrants being swept along one boulevard by the police. It had more in common with cowboys rounding up sheep. The whole spectacle was bizarre as scores of dark-skinned men, most with mobile phones, ran in and out of cars, trying to evade the police. I witnessed no arrests or even an apprehending of one of the men.

Politicians in all countries where there has been mass immigration speak with forked tongues. The subject is riddled with deceit and subterfuge, often leaving both immigrant and host community feeling things are not as they should be. France deserves better than a "too many foreigners" remark. A bit of honest and open discussion would be a good start.

Posted in: France,Immigration,Nicolas Sarkozy