On the one hand, a bill announced by Emmanuel Macron for a vote before the summer then, two days later, returned to the fall; on the other hand, a crisis on the Franco-Italian border which is taking on a striking scale. Here is the executive once again jostled on the migratory ground, caught up in its contradictions and confronted with the urgencies of reality. The words of Gérald Darmanin, declaring Thursday May 4 that the President of the Italian Council, Giorgia Meloni, was “incapable” of solving the migratory “problem” – “Meloni, it’s like Le Pen, she gets elected on “you will see what you are going to see” and then what we see is that it (immigration) does not stop and that it is growing” – have certainly shifted the problem to the diplomatic field, but they do not will not prevent a Franco-French crisis.
In recent months, the pressure has increased dramatically, especially in the Alpes-Maritimes. Flows from Tunisia and Libya are intensifying towards Italy (four times higher than in the first quarter of 2022) and are half made up of nationals from sub-Saharan Africa. Over the Easter weekend alone, some 2,000 people landed in Italy. Added to this is the recurring problem of unaccompanied minors – Gérald Darmanin and Eric Dupond-Moretti, who met this Friday morning to talk about the anti-thug law, also raised the issue because it concerns the protection of childhood. More than 1,200 unaccompanied minors have been taken care of since the beginning of the year on the Côte d’Azur, a clear increase compared to the same period in 2022. “All the one or two-star hotels in the area have been requisitioned to accommodate them”, worries an elected official from the department. A gymnasium was hastily transformed into a reception area in Menton at the end of April.
The Alpes-Maritimes department has all the characteristics to become a place of fierce political confrontation. Eric Ciotti, who chairs LR in Paris, sits on the departmental council as chairman of the finance committee and dreams of becoming the next mayor of Nice, is among the most offensive, especially as he takes care of his profile every day. regal. Thursday, from Morocco where he led a delegation of elected LR to prepare an offensive of his party… on immigration, he published a long press release to denounce the attitude of Gérald Darmanin vis-à-vis the government of Meloni: “The attack by those who can protect France from an even more massive influx of migrants is useless and counterproductive. If Italy decides to no longer manage migratory flows at the gates of Europe, France will experience a real migratory submergence.”
In the government, procrastination that looks bad
His local enemy, the mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi – now a member of the presidential majority – does not want to remain inert: The Parisian recently indicated that he was preparing with other mayors a text of law that he wants to submit to the government and to parliamentarians, a work of which he did not keep Beauvau informed. On Wednesday, the president of the National Rally, Jordan Bardella, made a visit to the Alpes-Maritimes devoted to this theme.
In this context, the government’s procrastination looks bad. The postponement until the fall of the examination of the bill, two days after Emmanuel Macron’s reverse announcement, adds to the disorder. The text contained an article facilitating the inspection power of the PAF at the borders, another strengthening the fight against smugglers – two measures which could have proved useful on the side of Ventimiglia at the moment…
Right and majority pass the buck, which does not suggest a future agreement on the subject. In the Senate – which had voted in committee for a more robust version of the bill, just before the suspension of the discussion decided by the executive – positions are hardening. President Gérard Larcher makes the refusal of article 3, which provides for the creation of a “short-term occupations” residence permit, a matter of principle, regardless of the number of people consecrated, arguing that there are already “500 000 unemployed foreigners in France”.
“With this Prime Minister, we will not succeed”
The government is still looking for a way to unblock the situation. Elisabeth Borne did not want a discussion before the summer, judging the atmosphere too tense. “In any case, with this Prime Minister, we will not succeed,” says a right-wing parliamentary official. Another, however, recounts his discussion with the head of government: “She is really shaken by what is happening at the border, she realizes that it is not tenable.”
On Wednesday April 26, presenting her roadmap for the 100 days, Elisabeth Borne announced the mobilization of 150 additional police officers and gendarmes in the Alpes-Maritimes and the creation of a “border force” from the summer: the objective is to associate more closely the internal security forces, the military and customs. There is an urgent need to act, despite the immobility caused by the political situation. Because there is a fact on which many agree at the top of the state: “The migration crisis is ahead of us.”