France: An Attack on Immigrant Workers is an Attack on All Workers

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October 21, 2024 editorial of the New Anticapitalist Party-Revolutionaries (NPA-R) in France, translated from French

On October 18, Prime Minister Barnier and Interior Minister Retailleau made pals with two ministers from Italy’s far-right government at the French-Italian border. In their line of fire: migrants, for whom a law in preparation promises to make life in France a little more difficult. But what exactly is the French government looking for?

Criminal measures…

This law, announced for 2025, will extend the maximum period of detention before expulsion for migrants from three to seven months. It could also outright punish illegal residence with prison sentences. Barnier is also looking for countries to send them back to, as [Italian Prime Minister] Meloni has just done with Albania, even though the Italian courts have declared the deportation illegal. Not long ago, the United Kingdom (U.K.) was considering sending asylum seekers to Rwanda. For the French government, the candidates would be Egypt, Iraq, Rwanda, Kazakhstan… all dictatorships. France would be prepared to give them hundreds of millions of euros a year to subcontract the confinement of migrants.

Italy already pays money to Tunisia and Libya, and the European Union is also paying Turkey. In these three countries, migrants are held in veritable concentration camps, from which they can only leave to be exploited in conditions worthy of the most barbaric slavery. Because these “slaves” cost their master nothing, he loses nothing by literally killing them through their work… And if that’s not enough, the cops or the military round them up and dump them in the middle of the desert, without food, shelter or water.

… and stupid

Retailleau also has a grudge against state medical aid, a benefit for people [including illegal migrants] earning less than 10,000 euros a year (a minority of migrants, since almost all of them work). It provides access to basic health care. The vast majority of doctors stress that this measure protects society as a whole. Leaving untreated a person suffering from a disease of poverty such as tuberculosis means creating the conditions for an epidemic that would strike everyone! Retailleau and Barnier know this, but they don’t care.

Class hatred

In all our workplaces, from factories and construction sites to hospital corridors and restaurant kitchens, we come from all walks of life. The machines and tools we work with make no distinction between us. As the pace of work gets tougher everywhere, we have to pull together to keep up.

At a time when more than 180 layoff plans are being announced, in the automotive industry in France (MA France, Valeo, Dumarey, Forvia, Bosch…) and throughout Europe (Volkswagen, Ford, Stellantis…), anger may take hold of us.

It’s not the migrants who threaten our jobs, but the capitalists, most of whom are French!

The government is preparing to slash the budgets of Social Security and other public services (education, health, etc.) by a total of 60 billion euros. It will be taxing the richest citizens to the tune of two billion euros, but increasing the tax on electricity by three billion. Once again, enough to incite us to revolt.

Striking at one sector among us is nothing more than a means of weakening us all. The [right-wing] Macronists and the right claim that the rise of the far right has forced them to take these measures. They are lying. This is their policy. It’s that of capital, of the ultra-rich who despise workers of all nationalities, and who point the finger at foreigners as scapegoats, hoping that this will make us forget where our real enemies are. It’s up to us to learn to see through them.

We are never stronger than when we stand as one, together!

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