‘A moment of real danger’: Fear and loathing in France before election showdown

A few crumpled but cherished photographs are all that remains of his life in Madagascar. After losing his parents to malnutrition, Ali was adopted from the Indian Ocean island nation by a French family at the age of two. Now 21, he prefers not to reveal his full identity as he describes how he’s been targeted on the streets of Paris because of the colour of his skin.

“Hate crime is increasing. I’m worried”, he says as he joins Muslim worshippers at the city’s Grand Mosque. “I’ve been threatened by neo-Nazis and people using racist slurs. They’re fearful of those who are different and so they attack us. People should realise that this is a moment of real danger.”

Ali is speaking just days before voters go to the polls for the second round of France’s snap legislative election, and after a record 10.6 million people cast their ballots for the far-right National Rally last Sunday. The party succeeded in winning more than a third of the electorate despite, or – for many – because of, its staunchly anti-immigrant platform. If it manages to secure an absolute majority in parliament, it’s pledging to “drastically” reduce both legal and illegal immigration, and to “protect” the French people from being “submerged” by a “flood” of foreigners.

The National Rally’s charismatic young leader and prime minister-in-waiting, Jordan Bardella, also wants to introduce a so-called French preference, which would see immigrants discriminated against when seeking to access housing, jobs and welfare benefits. French people with dual nationality are also in the party’s crosshairs. It wants them excluded from certain “strategic” or “sensitive” posts. While legal experts believe that many of these proposals would ultimately fail to receive approval from France’s Constitutional Council, and would be contrary to EU law, they have been embraced by voters who claim that the government has been too lax in policing French borders – and rejected by those they target.

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“People are concerned about the rights the National Rally are threatening to restrict”, says Robert Lacheu. Now retired, he moved to France from Algeria when he was 18, and believes that his generation’s contribution to the French nation is being dismissed by those who seek only to divide. “The far right have toned down their rhetoric in an effort to widen their appeal, and as a result they’ve been normalised. You turn on your television and see people blaming immigrants for everything, whether it be security issues, the economy, societal problems. There are people who see that and start to believe it.”

Also of Algerian origin, but born in France, Karima Ben Abdullah believes the current political climate is making life more difficult for people who are already vulnerable. “We’re afraid that violence and discrimination will become more commonplace because of this kind of rhetoric,” she says. “We need to educate people. This party is doing everything it can to polarise society.”

Others fear a trickle-down effect. Having lived in France for more than five years, Colombian Alexander Castro is in the process of applying for French citizenship, but is worried that his plans could be derailed if the far right come to power. “I don’t think they would allow my application to proceed, based on what they’re saying about immigrants. If you have people like that in government, discrimination will be legitimised, and it will spread to other areas, to the streets, to the workplace.”

In a bid to prevent such a scenario, lawyer and rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, Chems-eddine Hafiz, is joining widespread calls for voters to block the National Rally by supporting their rivals on Sunday, regardless of their political affiliation. More than 200 third-placed candidates from the left and centre have so far withdrawn from the race in an effort to avoid splitting the anti-National Rally vote.

“We’re urging the electorate to defend the values of the French Republic and to mobilise to keep the far right from power”, says Hafiz. “Sunday will be a decisive day in French history. We have a duty to protect our country. We must remain united in our diversity. We cannot let fear determine the future. The National Rally was forged in racism, xenophobia and intolerance. Muslims must no longer be used as a lightning rod for all the ills in society.”

But some in the Muslim community view favourably the policies of the far right. Himself an immigrant from Morocco, restaurant worker Mohad Hamadi says he supports the National Rally’s pledge to deport foreigners who commit crimes. “There are a lot of people who come here and cause trouble. I think it makes sense for them to be asked to leave. People who come here to work and who are good citizens should be able to stay. But if you don’t have a job, I don’t think you should be here. I like Marine Le Pen and I think she loves her country.”

Hamadi isn’t losing any sleep about potential changes to immigration law. “Life is much harder in Morocco. There aren’t many jobs, there’s not much money. I’m happy here in France, but if one day we’re ordered to leave, we’ll go. If we can stay, we’ll stay.”

But many people are very anxious. Among them, Elvira Mpacko (37), who works as a digital project manager in Paris. “For me, as a black woman, this is quite simply a xenophobic vote. I’m sad and disappointed. What frightens me is the fact that there are millions of people in my own country who literally hate me. I have no other word to describe it. I find it abhorrent that they would vote to elect a fascist government that poses a danger to our human rights. And this in the country that created the [civil rights document] the Declaration of the Rights of Man. The media fails to highlight the fact that there is a real problem with racism in the far right. When I hear Bardella talking about people with dual nationality, what he’s actually talking about is people who aren’t white.”

That view is shared by 26-year-old graphic designer Julie, from Paris. Describing herself as mixed race, she prefers not to reveal her surname, but says her grandparents, who are white, voted in the first round for the National Rally. “It’s important that people living outside France understand what’s happening here, because it’s so serious and divisive,” she says. “This party is against everything. It promotes its agenda through disinformation, and appeals to the type of voter who is not necessarily politically engaged. People have been brainwashed. It’s no longer unacceptable to be racist, and that terrifies me.”

Back at the Grand Mosque, Ali says he’s already turning his thoughts to the 2027 presidential election. “We need the National Rally to be defeated this weekend, but the battle is only beginning. In recent weeks I’ve thought about leaving France, and I understand why others might choose to. But I don’t want to jump ship. I grew up here. I have my friends, my family. Where would I go? We [Muslims] are not necessarily accepted in other countries either. The far right would have us believe that it’s not possible to live together peacefully, but that is absolutely not the case. I am determined to remain optimistic.”

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