French immigration rules to be overhauled as far-right uses murder as weapon

France’s interior minister has indicated he will push for tougher immigration policies as the far-right seeks to use a gruesome murder to put pressure on the government.

Addressing the arrest of a Moroccan for the murder of a 19-year-old student, Bruno Retailleau said Wednesday that this “abominable crime” required not only words, but also actions, as far-right parties demanded when commenting on the case.

“It is up to us, public leaders, to refuse the inevitability and to develop our legal arsenal, to protect the French,” Retailleau declared. “If the rules need to be changed, let’s change them.”

Tough rhetoric on migration is not new to Retailleau, a member of the conservative Republican Party who has previously advocated for stricter immigration rules and faster deportations.

The proposal is in line with demands from the far-right National Rally (RN) party, which has threatened to overthrow France’s fragile governing coalition if its immigration concerns are not addressed.

“It is time for this government to act: our compatriots are angry and will not be satisfied with mere words,” declared the leader of the RN, Jordan Bardella, regarding the murder of the student, identified only by her first name Philippine.

Green MP Sandrine Rousseau responded to the anti-migrant rhetoric, warning that the far right was using the murder case to “spread its racist hatred”.

A failed deportation

The unnamed suspect in the murder has been identified as a 22-year-old Moroccan national.

He was arrested on Tuesday in the Swiss canton of Geneva, according to the AFP news agency.

According to prosecutors, the suspect was convicted in 2021 for a rape committed in 2019, when he was a minor.

The suspect was due to be deported from France after serving a prison sentence for the crime, Le Monde newspaper reported.

He was sent on June 20 to a detention center for undocumented migrants pending deportation.

However, a judge released him on September 3, noting that the deportation process was facing administrative delays, on the condition that he report regularly to police.

Three days later, steps were taken to have him deported, but the man had disappeared, they said.

France regularly issues expulsion orders, but only 7% of them are implemented, compared to 30% in the European Union as a whole.