Hate campaign over asylum seekers' hostel drives French mayor out of town
The mayor of a small town in north-west France announced his resignation this week following a vicious, months-long hate campaign whipped up by the far-right over the creation of a hostel for asylum seekers in a residential area close to a school. Yannick Morez, who is to move out of the town he has lived in for 32 years, said his decision was prompted by an arson attack on his home and the disinterest of the authorities to the successive threats made against him. The resignation caused a political storm this week, over both the apparent lack of support and protection given to the mayor, and the rising tensions and climate of violence in French political life.
TheThe mayor of the small town of Saint-Brevin-les-Pins in north-west France this week handed in his resignation, accusing national and local authorities of failing to support and protect him after he became the target of a vicious hate campaign whipped up by the far-right over the creation of a hostel for asylum seekers in a residential area close to a school, and which culminated in an arson attack on his home.
