“Protecting us from migratory flows” from Afghanistan: outcry on the left after Macron’s words – BFMTV

During his speech dedicated to the situation in Afghanistan on Monday evening, Emmanuel Macron showed his desire to protect France from “irregular migratory flows” from a “destabilized” country. Part of the left criticized him for a lack of solidarity with the refugees.

Scenes of a crowd clinging desperately to the cabin or train of planes on the tarmac at Kabul International Airport, seeking to flee the triumph of the Taliban, may have weighed heavily. Since Monday evening, part of the left has been frontally opposed to Emmanuel Macron, ulcerated by one of the dimensions of his speech devoted to the Afghan crisis and accusing him of derogating from an imperative of solidarity towards refugees.

Emmanuel Macron nevertheless considered “our duty” and “our dignity to protect those who help us: interpreters, drivers, cooks and so many others”, indicating that “800 people”, Afghan nationals, were “of ores and already “on French soil. But the presidential speech did not quite aim to open the floodgates wide, and the Head of State preferred to point out a possible migratory risk.

“We must anticipate and protect ourselves against irregular migratory flows”

“We must anticipate and protect ourselves against significant irregular migratory flows which would endanger those who use them, and would feed trafficking of all kinds”, declared the Head of State on Monday evening. “The destabilization of Afghanistan also risks causing irregular migratory flows to Europe,” he had previously said, adding:

“France, as I said, has done and will continue to do its duty to protect those who are most at risk. We will play our full part within the framework of an organized and fair international effort. But Afghanistan will also need in the times to come of its vital forces and Europe cannot on its own assume the consequences of the current situation. “

“We will therefore carry, in conjunction with the Federal Republic of Germany (…) an initiative to build without delay a robust, coordinated and united response which will involve the fight against irregular flows”, he concluded.

Europe Ecology-The Greens upwind

It was from Twitter that the left response came, and almost instantly. The mobilization against the presidential remarks was particularly marked on the side of Europe Ecology-Les Verts, whose national secretary Julien Bayou questioned: “‘We must protect ourselves against irregular migratory flows’. And asylum? And these children, these women, these men who are fleeing horror? France must take its part. We need something concrete. “

The environmentalist mayor of Grenoble, who could compete in the next presidential election, Eric Piolle, attacked: “He especially wants people to stay there. He does not care about anything, the important thing for him is that he there is no one with us “. In the surtitle of this video posted on Twitter, he even proclaimed: “Macron shames France.”

The MEP, and declared candidate for the green primary, Yannick Jadot, also reacted. “Stunned to listen to Emmanuel Macron declaring that the women, men and children fleeing the hell of the Taliban are first of all a threat, ‘irregular migrants’, before being victims and potentially refugees,” he said. he wrote, continuing: “France and the EU can do so much better!”

The Socialist Party cautious but on the same line

In a less thunderous fashion, the Socialist Party has chosen to pivot its arguments around the same axis. “France and Europe must be at the rendezvous of their values, of their history. The protection of these voices which have carried democracy, freedom, equality, the rule of law must be able to find refuge with us “, called his boss, the First Secretary and deputy elected in Seine-et-Marne, Olivier Faure.

Another well-known PS figure looked in the same direction. Boris Vallaud, deputy elected by the 3rd constituency of the Landes, wrote: “At a time when Kabul falls back into the hands of the Taliban and their barbarism, infinite sadness for the Afghan people who had placed their trust in democracies and who will pay for it at a price strong. Their right to asylum is our duty. “

For Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the time is not for controversy

Without giving the Head of State discharge on this point, Jean-Luc Mélenchon refused to engage in the controversy, stressing that the hour belonged to a form of sacred union: “Macron has spoken. our country is in the action of general repatriation, duty of national solidarity. ” An already heavy truce in the political fights to come, however: “The time has come to redefine our international policy. The election of 2022 is that moment.”

The wrath of the rebels

Some of the lieutenants of the parliamentarian elected in the Bouches-du-Rhône, and presidential candidate, however seemed to anticipate the deadline set by their leader. This is the case of Adrien Quatennens. “Or how to stunt France in a few seconds,” he wrote on Twitter.

His colleague from Seine-Saint-Denis, Clémentine Autain, also scolded: “The duty of humanity towards Afghanistan Macron version (the rampart!). Sordid.”

“Emmanuel Le Pen!”

To tell the truth, it is rather actors of civil society, and intellectuals who have let slip the most vehement accents. It is even by an international personality that passed a formula intended to make flourish – a few hours at least – in the Twitter microcosm.

Indeed, retweeting in the evening the remarks of the activist Feïza Ben Mohamed, the American activist Edward Snowden exclaimed: “Emmanuel Le Pen!”.