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Rabat – The French Interior Ministry estimated at 700,000 the number of undocumented migrants in the European country.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez announced the figures on Wednesday, following questions from National Rally President Jordan Bardella, who demanded an accurate estimate of undocumented foreigners living in France.
During an interview on CNews Europe 1, the news anchor asked the minister whether he maintains that the number of undocumented migrants is estimated at 200,000 to 300,000, as he had announced earlier on the news channel LCI.
He responded that he had avoided giving a number to another channel to “prevent any controversy,” implying that his earlier estimates were inaccurate.
Bardella recently sent a letter to Nunez to criticize the interior minister for refusing to answer a journalist’s question on the number of undocumented migrants during his appearance on a TV interview on LCI.
The far-right politician also accused the minister of “inaction,” using the letter to demand a precise estimate of foreigners illegally settled in France.
Nunez emphasized that the numbers he had given were only estimates, recalling that former Interior Ministers have given different estimates ranging between 600,000 to 900,000.
“If we work seriously, and we have done so, I obviously know the number — when we use data from the State Medical Aid program and extrapolate, the estimate of undocumented foreigners in our country is 700,000,” he said.
The minister added, “Let’s make things clear: 700,000 undocumented people in France is an estimate. But once again, I insist- we must not give the impression that we are standing idly by on these matters
He then went on to acknowledge that migration remains a complex and challenging reality for France, given the state of the country’s economy and the global climate situation.
“We need to work with Europe to better control our borders and be more effective on our national territory,” he said.
Bardella has long shared strong anti-immigration sentiments, calling for a crackdown on irregular migration and tighter regulations of visa issuance for foreigners, especially from Africa and the Muslim world. In June, he promised that his party is “ready to govern” and claimed that the National Rally is the “only credible alternative to meet France’s needs.
He made his remarks ahead of the first round of parliamentary elections, subtly targeting Muslim communities. Critics have long warned that such rhetoric risks deepening divisions and encouraging Islamophobia.
As part of a nationwide crackdown on migrants in June this year, French authorities deployed over 4,000 police and military officials who swept through train stations to detain undocumented migrants, Le Monde reported.
