More than half of French people see migrants as a threat

A study published by the Ipsos Institute on Friday 13 September showed that 65 percent of French people think that welcoming migrants will not improve the country’s situation.

It revealed that 60 percent of French people see migrants as a threat. Some 65 percent believe that welcoming them will not improve the country’s situation and 45 percent believe that the arrival of migrants “deprives the French of social services “.

At the same time, 54 percent of respondents believe that the French should be given priority in the award of a job.

The study also indicates that 73 percent of French people perceive the economy as “rigged” in favor of the rich and the elite. Some 75 percent also feel that “traditional parties and politicians do not care about people like them, or do not understand them,” the polling agency stated.

For 77 percent of the French,  the arrival of a strong leader, “able to break the rules” would be a “solution to improve the situation of the country”.

This is a much higher proportion than the one observed at the global level (49 percent), which places the country “in the lead of the most outspoken countries on this question”, writes Ipsos.

Some 65 percent of French people are also convinced that a politician of this type could “reverse the trend and take the country from the hands of the rich and powerful”.

But there is no end in sight in terms of immigration: A diplomatic source in Brussels confirmed that a provisional scheme is being finalized to automatically distribute rescued migrants in the Mediterranean to EU countries.

Those who arrive illegally on European soil, will soon be land everywhere on the Old Continent at the request of Italy’s new government. According to information reported in particular by Le Point, a system of ” automatic distribution ” of rescued migrants in the Mediterranean is currently being developed.

“The discussions (on this mechanism) are advancing,” the source told AFP, adding that a meeting of experts is to be held in Malta with the objective to prepare a mini-summit in late September between several EU Ministers of the Interior.

The mechanism was presented in Brussels by Giuseppe Conte, head of the Italian government. According to the Italian newspapers La Repubblica and La Stampa, France and Germany, are both in favor of this system, as is Spain, Luxembourg, Romania, Portugal and Malta.

The President of the Council of Ministers told the Italian media that he met with his European interlocutors who has shown “a great willingness to immediately find an agreement on the redistribution of migrants rescued at sea, even if it is only temporary.”