Loading ...Macron launches crackdown on ‘Islamist separatism’ in Muslim communities
PARIS (Reuters) – President Emmanuel Macron pledged on Friday to fight “Islamist separatism” which he said was threatening to take control in some Muslim communities around France.
France has struggled with homegrown Islamist militancy for years but Macron’s government is increasingly worried by broader signs of radicalisation – often non-violent – within Muslim communities, French officials say.
They cite the refusal of some Muslim men to shake women’s hands, swimming pools that impose alternate time slots for men and women, girls of as young as four being told to wear full-face veils, and a proliferation of ‘madrassa’ religious schools.
More than 250 people have been killed on French soil over the past five years in attacks by Islamist militants or individuals inspired by jihadist groups.
“What we need to fight is Islamist separatism,” Macron said during a visit to the impoverished Paris suburb of Les Mureaux. “The problem is an ideology which claims its own laws should be superior to those of the Republic.”
France follows a strict form of secularism, known as “laicite”, which is designed to separate religion and public life. The principle was enshrined in law in 1905 after anti-clerical struggles with the Catholic Church.