President Macron told his own centrist party to shed its “bourgeois” stance on immigration as he pledged action against bogus asylum-seekers, notably from Albania and Georgia, reports The Times.
He told MPs from the ruling La République en Marche party, that its “humanist” approach was driving voters into the arms of the far-right. An opinion poll conducted by Le Monde found 64 percent of French people no longer felt at home in their country.
Officials are concerned that after Germany tightened its immigration policies, France could find itself in the front line of the next surge of migration into the EU.
A total of 255,956 migrants were given residency permits in France last year, up 3.4 per cent compared with 2017. A further 123,625 made asylum claims, up 22.7 per cent on the same period in 2017. Another 100,000 EU citizens arrived to live in France.
Mr Macron is particularly concerned at flaws in the asylum system which he believes are being exploited by economic migrants.
Read more of this report from The Times (subscription required).