Interior Minister Manuel Valls has sowed discord at the heart of the Socialist-led French government after making controversial comments about the country’s immigration policy and its large Muslim population, reports FRANCE 24.
During a closed-door ministerial meeting on Monday, Valls, who is in charge of French police, suggested that in ten years France’s immigration system would need fundamental reforms to tackle the influx of foreigners, especially from Africa.
In particular, he questioned whether the country would be able to maintain its policy of regrouping family members of immigrants who obtain legal residency.
Later in the meeting, he was quoted as saying it would be up to France to prove that Islam was compatible with democracy.
The comments were leaked to dailies Libération and Le Parisien by other ministers who, while wishing to remain anonymous, admitted feeling “outraged” by what they had heard.
Following the leaks, Valls and other members of the cabinet were forced to react publicly on Tuesday.
Sounding annoyed that his comments had been leaked to the press, Valls told French RMC radio that it was necessary to “rebuild a relationship with Africa, in particular over the issue of immigration.”
But Social Affairs Minister Marisol Touraine disagreed on France 2 television.
“We must remember that we are working within a legal framework that must be upheld,” she said. “In my view, calling family reunification into question does not help that framework.”
Read more of this report from FRANCE 24.