Fingers are pointed at illegal immigrants
Crime and insecurity make French cities more dangerous than Latin America
Women in Nantes are afraid to go out after dark.
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The attacks in Paris are remarkably frequent.
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The former Paris police chief warned of a devastating confrontation.
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France is shocked after the brutal murder of a 12-year-old girl in Paris, two weeks ago.
The details of how young Lola died are too horrific to describe, but the news of a 24-year-old woman being charged with the crime deepened disbelief.
The fact that the accused is living in France illegally after the expiration of her student visa has caused quite a stir.
While President Emmanuel Macron greeted Lula's parents at the Elysee, his political opponents blamed his government for the girl's death.
"Lola, you lost her life because you didn't start expelling this woman," said center-right Republican Representative Eric Puget.
In the National Assembly, the leader of the right-wing coalition, Marine Le Pen, asked Prime Minister Elizabeth Borne, saying, “The suspect in this barbaric act should not have been in France,” adding, “What are you waiting for to be able to act to stop this illegal immigration?” Undisciplined legitimacy?”
An editorial in Le Figaro entitled "Condemned Silence" stated that only 6% of foreigners living in France illegally were expelled in 2021 (down from 13% in 2017). The government is controlling the situation in order to make sure there are no more victims like Lula.
And last week, government spokesman Olivier Veran acknowledged that when it came to evicting illegal residents "it is clear that we have to do a better job".
to reject
For years, France's ruling class rejected any connection between immigration and crime, but that slogan is slowly cracking.
A book published last week by Didier Lalman, who served as police chief in Paris, titled "Necessary Order" is a damning indictment of the lawlessness rampant in the capital, where "a foreigner commits one out of every two crimes, and is often in an illegal situation."
Le Pen referred to this statistic in her question to Elizabeth Bourne.
Paris, or at least some of its suburbs, has always been famous for its chaos, which the French describe as the "lost lands of the republic".
So is Marseille, where 28 people have been killed this year in drug-related killings, usually by men with assault rifles.
And 55 percent of people arrested in Marseille are foreigners, according to one of the ministers.
crime spread
But in recent years, crime and violence have spread to other towns and cities.
Last month, a global study ranked France as more dangerous than Mexico, in terms of visitor safety, and cited the city of Nantes.
In 2004 Time magazine described Nantes as "the most livable city in France", but it is now considered more violent than Bogotá in Colombia.
And for good reason.
A 47-year-old woman was stabbed to death more than two weeks ago in Nantes.
Last month, a woman was raped in the street.
The two men arrested by the police in connection with the latest crime are Sudanese refugees.
In 2016, 283 cases of rape, assault and harassment were reported in Nantes, while there were 562 cases in 2021, the period when the socialist mayor of the municipality was welcoming immigrants to the city.
Increasingly, women in Nantes are afraid to go out after dark, given Mayor Joanna Rowland's response to last month's rape, declaring that police "will never be able to prevent a street rape, as awful as it is...because it is not her job.”
According to official figures released in October, 41% of people arrested this year in Nantes are foreigners.
This is a statistic that not even the socialist city council can evade.
One of the municipality's deputy mayors, Pascal Polo, recently admitted, "I am not saying that immigration means delinquency, but many of these young people are behind the attacks."
Violent crimes and sexual assaults have also risen rapidly in Paris, up 30% this year.
There are some areas where life is still rosy, but these areas tend to be where the political, cultural, and media elite congregate.
Elsewhere, life in the capital can be miserable, usually in working-class neighborhoods like those in which Lula lives.
Didier Lellmann's predictions are bleak.
Unless uncontrolled immigration is brought under control in France, he fears, the republic will experience a confrontation that will be "severe and destructive".
Meanwhile, a new immigration bill will be introduced in January, and Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has promised it will tackle the crisis.
But his tough talk was undermined last month by his boss, who said the best solution to the migrant crisis was to send them to the countryside, to repopulate villages and old towns.
Le Pen replied that the only place they should be sent was to "return home".
However, she will be secretly satisfied with Macron's unwillingness to confront France's chaotic immigration.
She is confident that over time, Georgia Meloni will not be the only right-wing blonde in power.
Gavin Mortimer is a British writer specializing in French politics.
6%
Only foreigners living in France illegally were expelled in 2021.
30%
The high rate of crime and sexual assaults in Paris this year.
■ Nantes has been rated "the most livable city in France", but is now considered more violent than Bogotá in Colombia.
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