The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, announces in an interview with "Figaro" that the refugee status is now withdrawn from foreigners living on French soil and "who have committed reprehensible acts, whether linked to radicalization or to public order ".

According to its figures, 147 forfeitures of protection have already been decided.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin asked the competent authorities to withdraw the refugee status of foreigners known for acts of radicalization or disturbances to public order, an "unprecedented" turn of the screw which testifies to a hardening Politics.

"Unprecedented fact, we asked Ofpra (French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons, Editor's Note) to withdraw asylum protections for those who would be in contradiction with the values ​​of the Republic", indicated the Minister of 'Interior in an interview with Le Figaro to be published on Friday. 

"Judge foreigners for what they do and not for what they are"

The Interior Ministry stressed having "placed particular emphasis on the forfeiture of protection for those who have committed reprehensible acts, whether linked to radicalization or public order". These last three months, underlined Gérald Darmanin, 147 withdrawals of protections were decided. "This is unprecedented. Our policy is clear: to judge foreigners for what they do and not for what they are," he said. "We will be inflexible on questions of public order", insisted Place Beauvau, declining the priority of the moment: "The people who appear in the file of reports for the prevention of radicalization of a terrorist nature (FSPRT), of which we is committed to ensuring that they are under administrative measure and renewed ".

In this regard, the ministry claims to have "put out of harm's way the first identified list of 231 people, all of whom are under administrative measures, in detention centers or deported".

"With the major difficulty that removals are very complicated" due to the closure of the borders linked to Covid-19.

In

Figaro

, Gérald Darmanin specified that 1,083 foreigners in an irregular situation are registered with the FSPRT, as well as "4,000 non-French people in a regular situation, including 25% of Algerians and 20% of Moroccans, 15% of Tunisians and 12% of Russians ".

In the same interview, he asks for the withdrawal of the residence permit for these people, already obtained in 200 cases over the past six months, "which is a record," he said.