Three years after the tragedy of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, three days after that of Arras, the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin is once again playing the firmness card. While boasting of having expelled 922 people on S files since “the start of President Emmanuel Macron’s first five-year term, the tenant of Place Beauvau announced that he intended to accelerate the expulsion of radicalized foreigners in an irregular situation.
According to figures from the Ministry of the Interior, there would be 193 of them in this case among the 20,120 registered with the FSPRT, an “information file, which is not judicial” and which brings together “dangerous people and others reported as being in connection with dangerous people”, said Gérald Darmanin during a press conference this Monday, October 16. Out of all those registered with the FSPRT, we distinguish active from inactive: 5,100 of them are recognized as having a close link with radical Islamism.
The prefects responsible for a “case by case” study of the S files
Faced with the particularly high risk of terrorist acts against the backdrop of a resurgence of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict triggered by the surprise attack by Hamas on October 7, the Minister of the Interior asked each prefect to study case by case people registered S on their territory. “This morning again, the DGSI (general directorate of internal security, editor’s note) carried out two arrests, one in the east of France, the other in the south-west of France”, further indicated the minister of the Interior.
102 arrests in connection with anti-Semitic acts
Since October 7, the Ministry of the Interior has made 102 arrests directly linked to anti-Semitic acts or actions promoting terrorism, including 27 foreigners. A “completely exceptional” figure, underlines government number three. “Eleven of these foreigners are currently in administrative detention centers or in prison,” declared Gérald Darmanin, who claims to have requested the “systematic withdrawal of residence permits” for people who had one.
237 reports transmitted to justice
In addition, 2,839 reports were recorded on the Pharos platform, which allows people to report illegal behavior or content published online. Of all the reports, 237 were sent to the courts. “Potential acts are identified, tracked down and people arrested,” promised Gérald Darmanin, who recalls that 43 attacks have been foiled since 2017, and that more than 1,500 people have been brought to justice.
7,000 soldiers deployed on the national territory
As it prepares to be examined by deputies at the beginning of November, measures aimed at “feeding the firmness of the immigration bill” should also be added to the text. The Minister of the Interior assures at the same time that “reflections around strengthening the technology of our intelligence services” are underway.
And while the numbers had fallen back to around 3,000 in 2021, the Ministry of the Interior also announced that 7,000 soldiers from the sentinel operation are now working alongside the 10,000 police and gendarmes mobilized as part of the fight against terrorism.