20:47, 22 October 2020

France to expel Russian citizens after heinous murder of teacher

Improvised memorial where people pay tribute to Samuel Paty, the French teacher who was beheaded on the streets of the Paris suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, France, October 21, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

After the murder of teacher Samuel Paty for showing pupils the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, the French Interior Minister intends to visit Moscow to agree on the deportation of Russian citizens who have been denied refugee status in France. The French secret services are concerned about the radicalization of Chechen young people, says Nicolas Hénin, an author of the book "Jihad Academy".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the alleged killer was shot dead by the police. The suspect was identified as 18-year-old Abdulak Anzorov, a Russian citizen of Chechen origin. He was granted refugee status in France.

French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced that 231 foreign nationals on the File of Alerts for the Prevention of Terrorist Attacks (FSPRT), which tracks radicals, will be expelled from the country (of them, 180 are being kept in custody). In total, there are 8132 Muslims in France, who are being watched by the secret services as supporters of extremism; for 428 of them, the deportation procedure has already been completed, while 233 others are still to be deported.

France cannot expel foreign nationals if they come from a country where there is a war or if a deportee faces torture or death, for example, a deportee originates from Syria and Libya. There are no such problems in the case of 51 candidates for the deportation.

According to some estimations, out of 51 candidates for the deportation, fewer than 42 are citizens of Russia.

Djambulat Suleimanov, the head of the "Bart Marchot" (Consent and Freedom) Association, has emphasized that the law protects from deportation the people who had been granted refugee status.

It was easy for the French secret services to deal with the first generation of refugees from Chechnya, journalist Nicolas Hénin notes. According to him, everything changed when a generation of refugee children grew up. "They have shown themselves to be 'fiery guys': they turn violent easily and are much less disciplined," Nicolas Hénin noted.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 22, 2020 at 11:58 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.