French goverment refuses to share names of terror suspects with mayors

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has refused to divulge details of foreign individuals on the intelligence services’ watch list to town mayors.

In September Guy Lefrand, conservative mayor of the Normandy town of Evreux, demanded that the intelligence services share the names of people living in his town who are suspected of being radicalised.

“France is under a state of emergency, and it is the duty of the state to give us access to the ‘S’ list,” Lefrand told reporters. “If the state won’t provide this information, I demand that they take the responsibility for removing these people from my town.” The “S” (which stands for Security of the state) is a French police and intelligence designation from late 1960s.

The classification is not restricted to potential Islamist terrorists, but also includes football hooligans, extremists of all hues and radical environmentalists.

But Cazeneuve told the Sunday newspaper that confidentiality “is essential if investigations are to run their course” and mayors won’t be informed on potential risks to their communities.

Le Journal du Dimanche reported that suspects on the so-called “Fiche S” watch list are “under surveillance but not under official investigation because they have not been proven to have committed any offence”.

“We must find a way of getting mayors involved in preventing radicalisation in a way that does not hamper the efforts of the intelligence services,” Cazeneuve added.

Cazeneuve did not explain how mayors could “hamper” their efforts however.

He said detaining individuals who have not committed any crimes, is “inefficient, unconstitutional and contrary to the values of the French Republic”. The efforts of the intelligence services were paying off, Cazeneuve continued, citing the arrest of 355 people with alleged links to terror groups.

The issue of migrants has become a central issue in the country’s presidential campaign, with French authorities eager to relocate the migrants at the notorious “Jungle” camp in Calais to so-called reception centers in other parts of the country.

Sceptics say the plan to demolish “The Jungle” is a publicity stunt that will not resolve the underlying problem — that French officials refuse either to deport illegal migrants or secure the country’s borders.

In 2001 alone, 54 000 people attempted to cross via the Channel Tunnel terminal in Calais into Britain and 5 000 had gotten through.

It also remains unclear how the government will prevent migrants from returning to Calais.

Migrants evicted from Calais moved to Paris and established a massive squatter camp at the Jardins d’Eole, a public park near the Gare du Nord, a station in the north of the city.

The modern high-speed Eurostar trains to London leave from this station and the area has become a magnet for human traffickers who charge migrants thousands of euros for fake travel documents to get to the United Kingdom.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said last week there were currently 10 500 people on the “Fiche S” watch list. Islamists who have travelled overseas to conflict areas, and have since returned to France are categorised as “S14”.