French far right poised to gain from wave of Tunisian migrants
Should these immigrants request political asylum, their demands would more than likely be turned down, and France would be under no obligation to allow them to stay. On Friday, French Secretary of State for European Affairs Laurent Wauquiez made it clear that immigrants from Tunisia should expect no special treatment.
“The Interior Ministry will examine on a case by case basis those who qualify for the right to immigration. Those cases can only be very marginal,” Wauquiez told a news conference.
Good news for the National Front
Marine Le Pen delivers a speechBildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Marine Le Pen is the daughter of far-right firebrand Jean Marie Le Pen
The government is taking a hard line on these immigrants - but that is not preventing Marine Le Pen, the new leader of the far right National Front party, from making political capital out of what she says is the beginning of a new immigration crisis.
In an interview with French public radio on Friday, Le Pen said the “great wave of migrants” was one of the consequences of the revolutions taking place in the Arab world.