France Seeking to Ban Far-Right, Anti-Migrant Group

World

February 14th, 10:50am

Asharq Al-Awsat

FILE PHOTO: General view of the skyline of La Defense business district behind Paris landmark the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysees Avenue, France, January 13, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo

France has begun a process to ban French far-right group Generation Identitaire, which is known to be hostile to migrants, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said. Generation Identitaire has repeatedly tried to bar migrants from entering the country, conducting high-profile raids in the French Alps and the Pyrennees. "This organisation has now 10 days to respond," Darmanin wrote on Twitter late on Saturday. In January, French authorities launched an investigation into the group on the grounds of incitement to racial hatred, following anti-migrant action in the Pyrennees. Darmanin said at the time he was looking into shutting the group down, Reuters reported. On Dec. 16, the Grenoble Appeals Court released three Generation Identitaire activists that had been sentenced to six months in jail after having tried to bar migrants from entering the country at the Franco-Italian border in 2018. The organisation rented two helicopters and a plane during the spring of 2018 to track down migrants trying to make it into France by crossing the Alps.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2804596/france-seeking-ban-far-right-anti-migrant-group