Today, most candidates are in favor of accepting refugees fleeing Ukraine. This was not always the case during the Syrian civil war or after the fall of Kabul.
If most presidential candidates share the will to welcome Ukrainian refugees, with the exception of Eric Zemor, the division was much more pronounced over the advisability of giving visas to Syrians in 2015, in a full-scale civil war, or to Afghans last summer. , returned to power after the Taliban. BFMTV.com listed the positions of personalities in the race for Elise.
• Emmanuel Macron
What he said about the Syrians. If Emmanuel Macron did not speak publicly on the Syrian issue in 2015, he congratulated Angela Merkel on accepting refugees during a visit to Berlin during the 2017 campaign.
“Europe is not reacting as it should at the time. (…) To confuse terrorists, asylum seekers, refugees, with any form of migration is a moral error, historical and deeply political, “he was quoted as saying by Parisian.
What he said about the Afghans: After leaving the US military and seizing power from the Taliban in Kabul in the summer of 2021, the head of state spared the goat and cabbage.
“It is our duty and our dignity to protect those who help us: translators, drivers, cooks and many others,” the president said in a televised address. Before adding: “We need to anticipate and protect ourselves from significant illegal migration flows that would threaten those who use them and feed traffic of all kinds.”
What he says about the Ukrainians. “France, like all other European countries, will do its part to help the Ukrainian population, but also to welcome refugees from that country,” Emmanuel Macron said at the end of the EU summit in Brussels the day after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. .
• Marin Le Pen
What she said about the Syrians. “If we adhere to the asylum criteria, we must be prosecuted by the current government. “Those who are currently fighting for the current government are the fundamentalist Islamists,” Marine Le Pen said in 2015. ITele. “The Syrians were bombing, it was the Islamists,” the candidate said Facing the BFM this Tuesday night, given the “fundamentally different” situation in Ukraine.
What she said about the Afghans. There is a national rally launched a petition to oppose the mass reception of refugees on French territory last August while seeking visas for Afghans who managed to help the French army. “The United States has created the Taliban regime,” added Marine Le Pen Facing the BFM this Tuesday night. – This is not a war.
What she said about the Ukrainians. Marin Le Pen predicts on February 25 BFM TV, which “of course” should be welcomed under the auspices of the High Commissioner for Refugees “Ukrainians who would like to come to France”. “Ukraine is a European country and I think it is natural from the point of view of regional solidarity that European countries can welcome military refugees from European countries,” she added on Tuesday night.
• Eric Zemor
What he said about the Syrians: Then RTL columnist Eric Zemmour took seriously the crisis in Syria and the departure of its citizens. “This is a problem for the Syrians, it does not affect us, it is not ours,” he said. radio.
What he said about the Afghans. “We have no obligation to welcome any Afghans. Afghans are great warriors, so if they are not happy with the Taliban government, let them fight it, “said the future presidential candidate. NEWS end of August.
What he said about the Ukrainians. The arrival of Ukrainian refugees risks “destabilizing France, which is already overwhelmed by immigration,” said the head of the Reconquête. RTL. Therefore, the candidate prefers them to be “in Poland”, a country that “needs to be helped” to cope.
• Jean-Luc Melanchon
What he said about the Syrians. “The real realism is to block the reasons for leaving. It is not to prevent people from arriving, but to dissuade them from leaving, “said the rebellious French candidate on RTL in 2015. We must do it because we have no choice, we will not throw them into the sea,” he added. “But people have realized that this is not the answer to the problems. They know that if we start like this, we will have to continue from year to year, and that doesn’t make sense. ”
What he said about the Afghans. Jean-Luc Melenchon was relatively discreet after the fall of Kabul. Initially, he refused to comment on the events in the spirit of “national solidarity”, while our country is in joint repatriation action“The honor orders all assistants to the French administration and people on the ground, as well as their families, to be returned to France if they wish,” he wrote in his blog.
What he said about the Ukrainians. The Bush du Rhône MP called for “solidarity with Ukraine”. “We need to take our share of the refugees,” he told France info. “These poor people are suffering a fate they did not expect.
• Valerie Pecres
What she said about the Syrians. “The law is the law and the government must have a two-pronged policy: accepting political refugees and returning illegal immigrants, rejected asylum seekers and illegal immigrants,” the future LR candidate said in 2015. ITele.
What she said about the Afghans. While campaigning for the LR Congress, Valerie Pekres argued that “there can be no unconditional welcome from all Afghans, we could not stand it” on RTL. Rather, it is proposed to “give priority to the reception of displaced persons” in countries bordering Afghanistan.
What she said about the Ukrainians. “If the situation required it, I would like France to show its solidarity by welcoming Ukrainian refugees who would justify this status, much more than the fake refugees who have entered Europe illegally in recent years,” the LR candidate told a panel. FigaroVox.
• Yannick Jadot
What he said about the Syrians. The candidate for environmentalist did not speak then on the issue of welcoming the Syrians, but the patroness of Europe-Ecologie-Les-Verts at the time Emmanuel Cosse said France 24 that “it was (our duty) to welcome all refugees.”
What he said about the Afghans. The MEP, who was campaigning on primary environmental issues at the time, called for an “unlimited” welcome for Iraqi migrants, speaking of “tens of thousands of people affected, no more” last August on BFMTV.
What he says about the Ukrainians. In a press release, the candidate said he was “pleased” that the European Union “declared itself” fully prepared “to welcome Ukrainians fleeing their country.”
• Fabien Russell
What he said about the Syrians. If Fabien Russell had not spoken on the subject in 2015, the head of the French Communist Party at the time, Pierre Laurent, said LCI that “the 400 million Europeans must be able to accept tens of thousands of migrants, not a few hundred, as Francois Hollande declared France.”
What he said about the Afghans. “Afghans seeking asylum in the European Union and France should be welcomed,” the Communist Party candidate told his party. Twitter account last August.
What he says about the Ukrainians. “Our tradition of hospitality must live on today more than ever,” the communist said BFM TVon February 26, causing “human tragedies.”
• Jean Lassalle
What he said about the Syrians. Jean Lassalle does not speak on the issue of Syrian refugees. However, the MP is one of the few parliamentarians who have traveled to Syria in recent years to meet with Bashar al-Assad, as reported Republic of the Pyrenees.
What he said about the Afghans. A member of the France-Afghanistan Friendship Group, the Pyrenees-Atlantic Deputy does not speak on the issue of Afghan migrants.
What he said about the Ukrainians. Jean Lassalle does not speak on the issue of Ukrainian refugees, he simply calls for his “solidarity with Ukrainians in misery.” The candidate expressed his “natural support in this period of crisis to the President of the Republic and to all bodies responsible for the dossier.”
• Nicolas Dupont-Ainyan
What he said about the Syrians. The head of Debout la France called for an “end to the air call”, urging “neighboring countries of the Syrian drama” to welcome migrants to South Radio in October 2016
What he said about the Afghans. “By opening the door wide for Afghan refugees, Macron is undermining the security of the French: madness!” The 10,000 Afghans who enter our territory every year are not enough for them. There are enough countries between France and Afghanistan that can accommodate them, “the presidential candidate said in a video of his Twitter account.
What he says about the Ukrainians. “France should welcome its share of refugees, of course, because of the ‘disgusting suffering,'” the Essonne MP told France Inter.
• Anne Hidalgo
What she said about the Syrians. “Welcome,” Anne Hidalgo launched in September 2015, welcoming 36 Iraqi and Syrian refugees to a Paris accommodation center. Then the mayor of Paris opened a humanitarian camp, which welcomed especially Syrians and which closed its doors in 2018. She regularly accused the state of not “caring” for migrants in the capital.
What she said about the Afghans. “Obviously we will support and welcome the Afghan refugees,” Anne Hidalgo announced on BFMTV at the end of August 2021. “I immediately said solidarity and availability for Paris.”
What she says about the Ukrainians. The mayor of Paris said on his campaign website that France “should (should) prepare for the reception of refugees.” The capital has also set up a crisis unit to “apply all means to ensure the accommodation of Ukrainians stranded in Paris or who would come to take refuge there”.
• Natalie Artois
What she said about the Syrians. Lutte Ouvrière’s candidate did not comment on the admission of Syrians.
What she said about the Afghans. If Natalie Artaud did not speak directly, the newspaper Lutte Ouvrière called for “The protection of Afghans in France and all their relatives who are still present in Afghanistan.”
What she said about the Ukrainians. The LO representative called for the “unconditional” reception of Ukrainian refugees, while calling for “equal solidarity with the Ukrainian people and the Russian people”. BFM TV this Monday.
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