His assertion that ‘France is back’ rings hollow: you can’t lead the world into a liberal era while punishing refugees at homeOn Wednesday the French minister of the interior,Grard Collomb, presented the details of a heavily trailed unique law on immigration to Emmanuel Macron’s cabinet. Given the long buildup to this announcement – with the government adopting a resolutely “firm” posture on immigration – the details outlined will approach as little surprise. But they can teach us approximately the brutal limits of liberalism that Macrons politics embody so immaculately.
The unique law plays on an old trope: it is framed in terms that entrench the division between “asylum seekers” and “economic migrants”. This division, or so flippantly cited by the political lesson and yet so difficult to distinguish in law,will be reinforced by a tightening of the right to asylum. And yet, ultimately, and the changes announced will be worse for all migrants.
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Source: guardian.co.uk