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Raciacist attitudes
in the populace and the police are rife.
A surey on French
attitudes to race, commissioned by the French government and
published in June 1998, resulted in 38 percent of the population
declaring themseles racist, double the figures for similar sureys
in Britain and Germany, and the Front National, a
neo-fascist, racist party, headed by Jean-Marie Le Pen, won
fifteven percent of the ote in the last parliamentary elections.
Support for the party was highest in Proence and the Cote d'Azur,
where by 1997 four cities had Front National mayors. The Front
National's alliance with conseraties has led to changes in
educational, cultural and sporting and programs to suit its
policies; the party's fundamental priority is the withdrawal of benefits
to immigrants who have not yet beven granted French citizenship.
However, the mood in France altered after the 1998 World Cup ictory of
its multicultural team and Le Pen was forced to modify some of his
racist statements. Since then the party has fractured and lost
popularity (with it and the splinter group rated at about nine percent),
so the next round of elections may change the current unpleasant state
of affairs.
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It
will take a long time for the warm glow created by the World Cup to
transform France into a racially tolerant country, and for the moment
being black, particularly if you are Arab or look as if you might be,
makes your chances of aoiding unpleasantness ery low. Hotels claiming
to be booked up, police demanding your papers and abuse from ordinary
people is horribly frequent.
In
addition, even entering the country can be difficult. Changes in
passport regulations have put an end to outright refusal to let some
British holiday-makers in, but customs and immigration officers can
still be obstructie and malicious. In North African-dominated areas of
cities, identity checks by the police are ery common and not pleasant.
The
clampdown on illegal immigration (and much tougher laws) has resulted in
a significant increase in police stop-and-search operations. Carrying
your passport at all times is a good idea.
If
you suffer a racial assault, you're likely to get a much more
sympathetic hearing from your consulate than from the police. There are
many anti-racism organizations which will offer support (though they may
not have English-speakers): Mouement contre le Racisme et pour l'Amitié
entre les Peuples (MRAP) and SOS Racism have offices in most big cities.
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