Rabat – France’s Minister of Interior, Gerald Dermanin, announced the ministry will shut down six mosques and a variety of Islamic associations in France accused of promoting “separatism.”
Darmanin revealed that a third of the 89 places of worship in France have been under investigation since November 2020 on the grounds of being “suspected of being radical.”
Six places of worship in France will close as a result of this crackdown.
French authorities are intensifying efforts to eradicate Islamic “separatism” in the country.
France’s Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, expressed his intent earlier this week to dissolve several Islamic NGOs in the country.
On September 24, he confirmed the dissolution of Baraka City and the Collective Against Islamophobia in France (CCIF), an NGO dedicated to combat discrimination towards Muslims in France, stating that “the fight against Islamist ideology is reaching a decisive stage.”
French authorities have also considered disbanding the Black African Defence League (LDNA), a revolutionary movement for the defense of the rights of Afro-descendants and Africans.
In June, the LDNA held a demonstration outside the US Embassy in Paris against police brutality.
Nawa Islamist publishing company, based in Ariege, southern France, has also been affected by the crackdown.
Minister Darmanin announced the closure of the Muslim-owned publishing house Nawa on September 17, describing it as “anti-Western and separatist.”
The interior Minister stated that Nawa “incites the extermination of Jews and legitimizes the stoning of homosexuals.”
Darmanin tweeted on September 17: “I have started the termination process due to some of the works of the Islamist publishing house Nawa, in particular, legitimizing jihad.”
The French government has launched an unprecedented monitoring campaign aimed at targeting mosques, Islmaic schools, and civil society organizations. The crackdown is set to combat what Darmanin refers to as “religious extremism.”
