About 43 demonstrations were launched across France to condemn racism and demand a settlement of illegal immigrants, for fear of the “rising of far-right ideas” before the presidential elections scheduled for April 2022.
About 7,500 people participated, including 2,300 in Paris, according to the police, and chanted slogans “freedom, equality, identity papers,” and “there is no need to mistreat them and deprive them of rights.”
“I am here to support illegal immigrants who work in unbearable conditions,” said Veronique Holbeck, 61, a resident of the Paris region.
“They want us to believe that we have been invaded, but the truth is that they are here to work and to contribute to economic activity, there is no need to mistreat them and deprive them of rights,” she added.
For his part, Malian Cisse Lassana, who participated in the march, explained that he was working in a hotel at night near the Eiffel Tower.
“I’ve been working here for seven years, that’s a lot. I want to get identity papers because I have the right to get them,” he added.
Dozens of organizations, associations and unions had called for demonstrations as part of an “anti-racism and united” campaign aimed at launching an “alternative to the far right” voice.
