Zemmour Plans to Seize Assets of Uncooperative African Leaders

Rabat – French presidential candidate Eric Zemmour has threatened to seize assets of African leaders and block remittances if the politicians refuse or fail to take back their nationals.

The threat highlights the anti-immigration stance of Zemmour’spresidential campaign with opinion polls marking president Emmanuel Macron and National Rassemblement’s Marine Le Pen as frontrunners.

The former political commentator said this week, that he would establish a Ministry of Re-Immigration upon his election as president of the Republic. The ministry would deport immigrants over a period of five years.

As president, he would visit Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia to negotiate deals for the expulsion of immigrants of Maghreb descent from France. In a news conference, Zemmour said that African leaders’ lack of cooperation will lead to the seizure of their assets in France.

“The heads of African countries have homes in France. We could seize them, you see. There are a number of foreigners who send money through the Western Union. That’s an important part of the budgets of these countries. We can block them. I call those ways to put pressure,” Zemmour said.

Zemmour’s comments faced national and international condemnation. Even far-right advocate Le Pen called the proposal “anti-republican” while refraining from labeling it as racist in an interview with French news channel BFM TV.

Promising an anti-immigrant agenda, the French presidential candidate believes that he is the only runner able to unify the divided French right-wing.

Zemmour’s proposal comes as no surprise since the French politician has long based his political campaign on anti-immigrant and islamophobic ideals.

Even after receiving a €10,000 fine for inciting hatred in January, the far-right leader has continued to stigmatize Muslim and immigrant communities in France by calling them “thieves”, “murderers”, and “rapists.”

As the world is keeping a close eye on the Ukrainian crisis, Zemmour argued that the external crisis should not overshadow internal ones with France facing challenges around the question of identity and security.

On March 8, the right-right candidate welcomed Ukrainian refugees while maintaining his stand against Muslim refugees and migrants.

“It’s a question of assimilation,” he argued, adding that Muslim migrants struggle to adapt to French culture and traditions, unlike the Ukrainians.

Spanish far-right party Vox echoed Zemmour’s sentiment, stressing that Europe must “defend” its borders against Muslim “invasions.”