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Rabat – France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that his country is set to expel Moroccan imam Hassan Iquioussen.
The minister publicly accused the France-born Moroccan imam of adopting “hate speech against the values of France, contrary to our principles of secularism and equality between women and men.”
The Moroccan imam was born in France to Moroccan parents in 1964 in Denain, in northeastern France.
The imam has been publishing YouTube videos viewed by roughly ten thousand followers.
French news outlet Le Point said that France’s decision to expel the imam was taken after Iquioussen’s request to renew his ten-year residence permit. France has withdrawn his nationality due to his publicly stated positions.
News reports are suggesting that France is now attempting to use its controversial “separatism law” of August 2021 to reject his residence permit renewal.
Marianne news outlet reported that his lawyer announced that Iquioussen received a document of his expulsion procedure on May 3.
France sparked outrage for the introduction of the new law that many human rights and Islamophobia-oriented organizations have described as targetting thecountry’s Muslim minority..
The “separatism law” was part of Macron’s program intended to counter terrorism after several horrific attacks in France. The law however received global criticism for potentially further dividing the country, and making its 3.3 million Muslim citizens (roughly 5% of the population) a scapegoat for growing economic and political tensions within the nation.
In 2021, news outlet the Conversation said the new separatism law “ stigmatizes minorities and could backfire badly.”
Critics also found that the law limits the freedom of religion, accusing France of targeting the country’s Muslim community, triggering further increases in Islamophobic attacks.
