‘Two faced!’ Emmanuel Macron shamed for migrant policy ‘eroding trust in democracy

France’s National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (CNCDH) accused him of fuelling anti-migrant sentiment and undermining democracy. 

Christine Lazerges, president of the CNCDH, said: “The CHCDH is sounding alarm bells because we believe that the government’s current immigration policy is fuelling xenophobic sentiment in France and eroding people’s trust in democracy.

“What’s more, we are growing increasingly alarmed by the government’s tough stance on immigration and migrants’ rights, and by local authorities’ systematic human rights violations in their treatment of refugees and migrants.”

The CNCDH also accused the centrist government of being “two-faced,” saying Mr Macron had pledged to find a shelter bed for migrants sleeping rough on the streets of France before backtracking on his promise. 

Mrs Lazerges said: “The (government’s) migrant policy is clearly two-faced… The head of state initially pledged to rehouse all migrants living rough on France’s streets in emergency shelters. But that didn’t happen. Instead, migrants were evacuated from their makeshift homes without being given prior warning and without being offered temporary shelter.”

The CNCDH chief also said the government’s recent crackdown on illegal immigration had led to a sharp increase in police violence against migrants, especially in the French border towns of Nice and Calais. 

Mr Macron, 39, pledged over the summer to step up the fight against illegal immigration, saying that his government would strive to cut down asylum processing times and systematically deport all illegal economic migrants. 

But Mrs Lazerges added: “The CNCDH urges the government to put the respect for human rights at the heart of its immigration policy… The state cannot only protect asylum seekers, it has a duty to protect all migrants, no matter their status.”