"Go back to Africa!" French Parliament halts as racist slogans were raised

Paris, Nov 4: French parliament was halted on Thursday (Nov 3) after Gregoire de Fournas, the parliamentary representative from the National Rally (RN) party, shouted, "Go back to Africa!" during a Black lawmaker's comments while addressing the issue of a stranded migrant boat in the National Assembly.

 

 

 

 

Gregoire de Fournas, interrupted Carlos Martens Bilongo, a representative from the far-left party France Unbowed (LFI) during a session of the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament. Bilongo was calling on the French government to cooperate with EU counties - notably Italy and its newly-elected far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni - to assist several hundred African migrants rescued from the Mediterranean sea.

 

 

 

 

 

De Fournas interrupted, shouting "go back to Africa." Bilongo was challenging the government over its approach to the people on the stranded rescue boat. The vessel is carrying hundreds of passengers in the Mediterranean Sea and NGOs have urged the French government to intervene with a solution. Chaos immediately ensued in the chamber, leading Yael Braun-Pivet, President of the National Assembly, to temporarily suspend the session.

 

 

Bilongo and his party have described the shout as a racist personal attack, though de Fournas' party has argued that the interjection was actually intended for the migrants under discussion. "Today, some people once again put my skin colour at the centre of a debate. I'm born in France and I am a French lawmaker and I didn't think that today I will be insulted (like this) at the National Assembly," Bilongo shared with media after the incident.