Emmanuel Macron announces "strong" measures to fight against communitarianism

Text by: RFI Follow

"Our enemy is separatism", but "making a plan against Islam would be a deep mistake", said Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday at the end of a trip to Mulhouse, in the east of France, devoted to the fight against "Islamist separatism" and radicalization.

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" Islamist separatism is incompatible with freedom and equality, incompatible with the indivisibility of the Republic and the necessary unity of the nation, " said the head of state in a speech to local officials and residents of the Bourtzwiller district.

But “ it is not a question of stigmatizing some religion. And what we have to do is not, as I have sometimes heard in some people, a plan against Islam. It would be a deep fault , "he added after speaking with the police, elected officials and heads of associations in the neighborhood.

“ In the Republic, we cannot accept that we refuse to shake hands with a woman because she is a woman; in the Republic, one cannot accept that someone refuses to be treated or educated by someone; in the Republic, one cannot accept the deschooling; in the Republic, certificates of virginity cannot be required to marry; in the Republic, one must never accept that the laws of religion can be superior to the laws of the Republic, it is as simple as that ”, enumerated the president of the Republic.

→ Read also: How Macron wants to fight against “Islamist separatism”

Emmanuel Macron notably announced, among the " strong " measures prepared for several months by the government, that France was going to stop welcoming "detached imams" sent by other countries, such as Turkey and Algeria, without specifying when this measure would be applied. He also said that the reception of some 300 "chanters" received each year during the Ramadan period would also be ended.

To meet the needs of imams in mosques, France welcomes “seconded imams” from other countries and financed by them, within the framework of bilateral agreements. There are thus around 300 permanent staff, of whom 150 come from Turkey, 120 from Algeria and around thirty from Morocco, the main countries of origin of the 4 to 5 million Muslims in France.

These religious form a small part of the number of imams in France - often volunteers, even itinerant - officiating in the 2,500 Muslim places of worship. This number is not precisely known, but is estimated at around 1,800 imams.

( With AFP)

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• France
• Emmanuel Macron
• Islam
• Religion

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