Yannick Morez, the mayor of a town in western France, was a regular target of far-right protests. He complained of 'a lack of support from the state' when he stepped down.
AFP
Published today
Demonstrators take part in a protest against a reception center for asylum seekers in front of the town hall of Saint-Brevin-Les-Pins, in western France, on April 29, 2023. Their sign reads "Open your eyes, Stop Immigration, Stop the drop of our status, let's organize the return of clandestine people, deliquents and foreign criminals."
FRED TANNEAU / AFP
Yannick Morez, mayor of Saint-Brevin-les-Pins in western France, resigned on Wednesday, May 10, after being targeted by the far right over plans to move a center for asylum seekers. Morez faced death threats and an arson attack on his home. His resignation comes as support for the far right swells and mainstream parties seek to channel anti-immigration sentiment in an increasingly tense political environment.
Morez said late on Wednesday he was stepping down "for personal reasons" − while complaining of "a lack of support from the state." His announcement has prompted responses from the highest levels of French politics.
Yannick Morez, mayor of Saint-Brevin-les-Pins in western France, resigned on Wednesday, May 10, after being targeted by the far right over plans to move a center for asylum seekers. Morez faced death threats and an arson attack on his home. His resignation comes as support for the far right swells and mainstream parties seek to channel anti-immigration sentiment in an increasingly tense political environment.
Morez said late on Wednesday he was stepping down "for personal reasons" − while complaining of "a lack of support from the state." His announcement has prompted responses from the highest levels of French politics.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Twitter described the attacks against him as "outrageous" and expressed his "solidarity" with Morez and his family.
"What has happened is very shocking, and I want to assure the mayor of my full support," Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said on Thursday during a visit to La Reunion, a French Indian Ocean territory. She added that she wanted to "protect mayors better (...) intervene sooner to support them, to identify their difficulties and back them up better."
Months of protests
Saint-Brevin, a seaside town at the mouth of the Loire River near the western city of Nantes, has been racked for months by protests against plans to move existing asylum accommodation to a site close to a primary school. The town has hosted migrants since the so-called Jungle camp near Calais on France's north coast was dismantled in 2016.
Morez said in March that there had "never been the slightest problem" with asylum seekers in the years they had been hosted in his town. But beyond repeated demonstrations organized by far-right party Reconquete led by former presidential candidate Eric Zemmour against the move, Morez's home was targeted in an arson attack on March 22 that is the subject of a criminal investigation.
Parti Socialiste chief Olivier Faure posted on Twitter that "it's shameful that the state did not grasp the scale of what was happening to him and did not back him up. It's shameful to continue normalizing the far right."
Recent surveys suggest its figurehead Le Pen would beat Macron if there were a re-run today of last year's election run-off. Meanwhile, Macron's ministers are racing with the conservative Les Républicans party to bring new immigration bills before France's Assemblée Nationale lower house, in which no party has a majority.
Months of protests
Saint-Brevin, a seaside town at the mouth of the Loire River near the western city of Nantes, has been racked for months by protests against plans to move existing asylum accommodation to a site close to a primary school. The town has hosted migrants since the so-called Jungle camp near Calais on France's north coast was dismantled in 2016.
Morez said in March that there had "never been the slightest problem" with asylum seekers in the years they had been hosted in his town. But beyond repeated demonstrations organized by far-right party Reconquete led by former presidential candidate Eric Zemmour against the move, Morez's home was targeted in an arson attack on March 22 that is the subject of a criminal investigation.
Parti Socialiste chief Olivier Faure posted on Twitter that "it's shameful that the state did not grasp the scale of what was happening to him and did not back him up. It's shameful to continue normalizing the far right."
MPs from the far-right politician Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National (RN) party did not join other lawmakers in standing to pay their respects to Morez following his resignation on Wednesday. The re-branded former Front National, whose policies still in large part center on hostility to Islam and immigration, is riding high in the polls.
Recent surveys suggest its figurehead Le Pen would beat Macron if there were a re-run today of last year's election run-off. Meanwhile, Macron's ministers are racing with the conservative Les Républicans party to bring new immigration bills before France's Assemblée Nationale lower house, in which no party has a majority.
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