The National Front party has accused Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo of putting the concerns of migrants ahead of those of French citizens. In a statement, the party said that the number of homeless people in Paris had increased by 84% between 2002 and 2012, but that Hidalgo has shown little interest in alleviating the problem.
Although the EU-Turkey migrant deal has temporarily stemmed the flow of illegal migration to Greece through Turkey, hundreds of thousands of migrants are still making their way into Europe.
According to the International Organization for Migration, more than 204,000 migrants arrived in Europe (mostly Greece and Italy) during the first five months of 2016, more than twice as many as arrived during the same period in 2015.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has announced plans to build a "humanitarian camp" next to one of the busiest train stations in the city, so that thousands of illegal migrants bound for Britain can "live with dignity."
Hidalgo, who has often sparred with French President François Hollande for his refusal to accept more migrants, says her plan to help illegal migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East is a "duty of humanism."
Critics counter that Hidalgo's plan is a cynical ploy aimed at positioning herself to the left of the current president, as part of a political strategy to wrest leadership of the Socialist Party from Hollande, whose approval ratings are at record lows.
At a press conference on May 31, Hidalgo said the camp would be built in northern Paris "near the arrival points for migrants." She was referring to Gare du Nord — one of the busiest railway stations in Europe — from where high-speed Eurostar trains travel to and arrive from London.
Thousands of illegal migrants, many from Afghanistan, Eritrea and Sudan, have gathered at a nearby public park, the Jardins d'Eole, and turned the area into a massive squatter camp where conditions are squalid. The area, which is so dangerous that the government has classified it as a no-go zone (Zone de sécurité prioritaires, ZSP), has become a magnet for human traffickers who charge migrants thousands of euros for fake travel documents, for passage to London.
Hidalgo said her new camp, which will be built within six weeks, would be modelled on Grande-Synthe, a massive migrant camp near the French port city of Dunkirk.
Grande-Synthe, which is home to more than 2,500 illegal migrants hoping to reach Britain, was opened in February 2016 after French authorities destroyed a makeshift camp in nearby Calais known as the "Jungle," from where thousands of migrants tried to break into the Channel Tunnel in a bid to reach London.
The upkeep of Grande-Synthe will cost French taxpayers €4 million ($4.5 million) this year, in addition to a stipend of €10 euros a day for every migrant at the camp. French taxpayers presumably will also be paying for Hidalgo's camp in Paris.
Hidalgo, who has threatened to file a lawsuit against the American media outlet Fox News for reporting about Muslim no-go zones in Paris, seems to have no qualms about turning parts of northern Paris into ghettos for illegal migrants. "Paris will not avoid taking responsibility while the Mediterranean becomes a graveyard for refugees," she said. "I do not want to look at myself in the mirror in 10 or 15 years and say: 'You were mayor of Paris and you are guilty of not helping people in danger.'"
Hidalgo added that "Europe and France are not living up to their history when they fail to treat outsiders with dignity."
Hidalgo's project has been welcomed by some, including pro-migration charity groups, and has infuriated others, such as French Housing Minister Emmanuelle Cosse. She said there already are enough refugee shelters in Paris and that Hidalgo's announcement would only serve to draw more illegal migrants to the city.
In an interview with Europe 1 radio, Cosse said that "migrant camps are not the solution" because they amount to the establishment of migrant ghettos where integration becomes impossible. Cosse said that more than 1,000 additional illegal migrants had arrived at the Jardins d'Eole in the week since Hidalgo's press conference, bringing the total number of migrants there to 2,300.
A political analysis by the center-right Le Figaro postulates that Hidalgo's plan for a migrant camp is just the latest in a series of provocations in which she is attempting to establish her left-wing credentials as part of a strategy to win leadership of the Socialist Party. The report says she believes President Hollande will lose his bid for reelection in 2017, and that his defeat will pave the way for a leadership battle between Hidalgo and French Prime Minister Manuel Valls. According to Le Figaro, Hidalgo is determined to become the Socialist Party candidate for President of France in 2022.
A report by the French public radio channel France Inter describes the rivalry between Hidalgo and Valls as "war unto death."
Hidalgo's quest to become the first female president of France may be derailed by the head of the anti-immigration National Front party, Marine Le Pen, who is now one of the most popular politicians in France.
According to an opinion poll published by Le Monde on June 1, 28% of those surveyed said they would vote for Le Pen in 2017, compared to 21% for former president Nicolas Sarkozy and 14% for Hollande. The poll also shows that on a scale of 1 to 10, Hollande's approval rating is at 2.1.
"It is absolutely scandalous that Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo uses taxpayer money to house illegal migrants. Migrants should not be housed in hotels or in modular homes within migrant camps. They should be in detention camps waiting to be taken back to their country of origin.
"Anne Hidalgo's project is characteristic of a political class that is more concerned with migrants than citizens, a political class that has forgotten that the main role of leaders is to care above all for their own people first."
Meanwhile, efforts by French police to tear down makeshift migrant camps have become like a game of whack-a-mole. More than 20 camps have been dismantled in Paris over the past 12 months, but each time they are rebuilt within weeks.
On May 2, police cleared a makeshift migrant camp under the Stalingrad Metro station (near Gare du Nord) after thousands of migrants brandishing metal poles and wooden planks engaged in a mass brawl on April 14. (A four-minute YouTube video of the melee can be viewed here.) The camp had previously been cleared on March 30.
Surely, if every French Tax paying citizen refused to pay their taxes, as their money is being used against their wishes, I mean everyone! there would be no money to pay for her ridiculous plans of building a migrant camp, and most of all the real reason for her so called humanitarian endeavours, is to get control of the government for her own personal agenda of fame and power.
Unless the French along with other citizens of Europe and UK stand their ground against the hair brained activities of the incumbent politicians, all will be lost. The EU will no doubt join in with their usual catastrophic input!
Hidalgo's "duty of humanism" is going to see a lot of dead French humans.
The "duty of humanism" is not as Hidalgo would have it, to commit suicide.
What is happening in France and other EU cities is very much like what is happening in the U.S. with the thousands of migrants that are coming across the southern border of Mexico claiming they are refugees and are running from the drug cartels in their own countries most of them are being allowed to pass through Mexico. All of it is a lie these people are economic migrants coming here looking for jobs. A lot of them already have relatives in the U.S that are illegally here when some of the kids turn up in the crowds crossing our very unsecured border they tell the Border Patrol that they have relatives they can live with so the kiddies are flown on the taxpayers dime to what ever city the relatives are in. What a slick way to illegally enter a country. This has gone on now for at least the past two years. The illegal population in the U.S. has gone up and up especially since President Obama has been in office with no end in sight. All on the taxpayers to foot the entire bill.
It is completely unfathomable that France, of all nations, believes they have any business trying to force Israel into relations with anybody in regards to forming a working peace. Especially given that those same people have repeatedly displayed a propensity to violence, hatred and a blatant disregard/disrespect for the values and laws of anyone, anywhere. They want to end individual freedom at all levels in the very countries that insist on giving it to them.
I might suggest that the citizens of the countries being dismantled from the inside out, by these supposedly helpless immigrants, find away to round up these pathetic government leaders and make them live in these camps and no go zones. Obviously, they would be afforded the same protection that is being provided to their own law abiding citizens. Oh wait, there are no protections for them. In fact, if they speak out they are scorned and harassed, being accused of some made up politically correct nonsense.
Until you can adequately protect and govern you own country, I would suggest you but out of any others attempts to protect and provide for her citizens. Stay out of Israel's business, you feeble minded cowards.
European and British leaders continue to make Europe and Britain an Extremely Dangerous place for our native people and for tourists. Many people stated they love visiting Europe but will never visit there ever again because Europe is now far too dangerous teeming with violent, hostile Muslim invaders.
The UK Express reports that thousands of armed and dangerous Muslim illegals are waiting to cross the Channel where our British traitor leaders give the illegals everything FREE. Forever. Whilst thousands of our jobless, homeless veterans live on the streets DENIED HELP because they're white Christian British. END the INJUSTICE AGAINST OUR PEOPLE. Deport ALL the illegals now.
Obviously the Bleeding Heart Dogooders and the Lunatic Left will not take action to protect the citizens and the nation. So, inevitably, it will be the likes of the National Front who will act effectively.
It is a pity that Paris seems to be troubled as is Sweden with immigrants cluttering a beautiful city. I suppose this is to be expected with a socialist government. Are the decent French inhabitants expected to say nothing whilst suffering the crimes and terrorism ? Are they not blaming Merkel for the mess ? I thought the French were more robust.
In a short time she will be complaining about a big decline in tourism in Paris.
Hidalgo is the ultimate career politician! Making use of the squalid conditions that many (illegal) migrants live in as an excuse to spend taxpayers money to further her own twisted agenda. By deliberately choosing to create these migrant centres close to the railway station is bound to act as a magnet for those wanting to get into Britain illegally. She's using her own people's tax money and then using the threat of the positioning of the centre to threaten British border control also. Hopefully Marine Le Pen with others will force this foolish woman to stop threatening the 2 countries with mass movement of illegal immigrants.
The National Front should really win and muster a government with center right Sarkozy in order to stop the immigrants' tsunami if France is to remain a European nation. Otherwise it will become a Bangladesh in the middle of Europe soon!
Agreed, Europe and the UK are well on their way top becoming a Bangladesh or an India. Foreigners that come to India to visit the wonderful sights are awed by its buildings and people, but cant wait to get home as its so DIRTY. Eventually, what will they be going home too if the world is going to become home to millions of travelling religious zealots, who's only aim is to annihilate anyone not of their religious beliefs. The tourist trade in beautiful France which brings massive financial input has dwindled to zero.
When will it sink in with the politicians that these refugees are not refugees in the true sense and that they will never integrate.
This Hidalgo creature needs to hook up with those 2 other gorgeous babes, Merkel the Mad and Clinton the Crooked, take their show on the road and see how many people would be wiling to pay actual cash to hear them rant and rave their poisonous filth. The area around Gare du Nord is a busy one already with no room to swing a cat, but in her descent into socialist madness this is the spot she chooses to house migrants who have already broken the law when they illegally crashed into Europe?
So, least we forget that little matter of the slaughter of the innocents last year in this fair city when 130 people were removed from this earth against their will by Islamic killers, this woman now wants to breast feed this motley crew into becoming good, gentle and democratic citizens of Europe based on the philosophy of Liberté, Eɡalite Fraternité?
Where are the French to resist the destruction of their country, culture and achievements, where are those in power to make a stand against the creeping Islamisation of France, why are vast amounts of adherents of this peculiar ideology, Islam, allowed to fling themselves on streets and pavements every Friday to pray, [or is it yoga they're attempting] with not a Gendarme worth his salt strolling by to drag the lot of them off to cool theirs heels in a jail cell?
And what of those sumptuous looking dollies dressed in the latest chic black sacks with eyes squinting at the outside world that the the government made illegal when Sarkozy was in power, how's that doing business-wise for the haute couture runways in Paris, making a killing yet? All I can hope for in the future for this most magnificent of cities where I spend a lot of time, is Madame Marine Le Pen gives the politicians who have reduced this country to trash a swift, sharp bollocking when she walks off with the main prize in the next election. Bon chance France.
All of Europe's career politicians of the Socialist variety are cynical, corrupt and dishonest as they know well the only reason they are in power is that immigrant freeloaders vote for them! They vote for them because they want their free housing and social welfare handouts. Nobody else in Europe who is sane votes left wing anymore.
Whether it's Francois Hollande in France, Angela Merkel in Germany, David Cameron or Jeremy Corbyn in the U.K, or someone like Mona Sahlin in Sweden, it does not matter anymore, they're all the same! And they are all of them perfectly aware of the fact that their popularity is at an all time low, one need only look at France and Francois Hollande versus Marine Le Pen's ratings to figure it out. The unelected bureaucrats in Brussels are even worse!
What Europe needs today is some sort of revolution like the one of 1848, before it's too late, and all of Europe starts to look like some refugee camp in southern Lebanon.
Unfortunately it seems to be the same kind of evolution on the other side of the Atlantic in the USA and Canada with "leaders" like Obama and Justin Trudeau, both of them being Socialists.
Daniel Less. The Revolution of 1848 was actually a failure, it was established as fighting for the rights of the people, but the moneyed aristocrats regained control. (with the Vatican's help)!
Definitely the indigenous people of Europe/UK are rethinking their position, and inevitably a revolution of sorts will come into play. Information and communication is the key to this mindset (presume, reason for people with political agendas wanting to destroy freedom of speech). The 1948 Revolution failed through lack of communication and the people became afraid and veered towards "absolute rule and law and order, to the uncertainty of radical revolution" The outcome of such movements are perhaps contained in that one sentence ! If the ruling powers are only offering "uncertainty and radical revolution" then a 1848 would appear to be a fail safe movement.
Political endeavours to destroy whole countries whilst appearing to fund, feed and refurbish appears to be a veneer placed over the actual agenda ie control of assets. The present lynchpin created over the last few years is of course the Muslim Agenda. Perhaps to obtain, or keep those assets in the hands of the few; corporates/countries.
The politically correct left is permanently and irreversibly destroying the cultures and societies of the western democracies...and often use the same flawed reasoning and scapegoating as the radical Islamists while doing it.In human history it would take an act of war and invasion to alter the ethnic demographics of a country so quickly and dramatically...but the exploitation of the UN refugee conventions by third world opportunist and the suppression of the people by the politically correct left has made this artificial cultural disaster happen.
We need to replace the insane socialists asap ship the migrants back and reclaim democracy and free speech from the left's human rights violators.
The left have much to answer for and should face the consequences of what they inflicted on the west.