Posted on 02/08/2008 10:08:39 PM PST by bruinbirdman
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France pledged to put 4,000 more police into deprived suburbs as part of an ambitious plan to end lawlessness and breathe new life into the banlieues yesterday.
"There is new blood for France in these neighbourhoods", he said.
Mr Sarkozy also unveiled plans to help 100,000 people find work and declared "war without mercy" on drug dealers and the "law of silence" that surrounds them.
Rioting broke out in the suburbs in autumn 2005 and late last year. As interior minister, Mr Sarkozy was accused of stoking unrest by vowing to use a power hose to cleanse the "rabble" from the suburban estates, which have a high immigrant population.
Yesterday he stood by his words but recognised that "there are districts in our country where one has less rights and opportunities than in others".
"I want to tell these kids, who are French, nobody will be judged by their skin colour, or by the address of their district", he said.
All French citizens, however, must respect "our culture, our values, our law", he insisted.
Mr Sarkozy also proposed taking students by bus to schools in other areas to help mix social groups and sending promising pupils to boarding schools.
Right-wingers praised the plan but many suburban associations and mayors criticised the lack of detail on funding and its failure to oblige richer suburbs to contribute to poorer ones.
Fadela Amara, the urban affairs minister, said the plan's effects would be felt by the end of the year.
The plan is the latest attempt by successive presidencies to deal with the legacy of botched immigration and housing policies in post-colonial France.
Many immigrants were dumped in soulless estates. The government declared a national state of emergency in November 2005 after three weeks of rioting in estates that surround more than 30 towns and cities.
Tension erupted three months ago after two teenagers died in a collision with a police car in Val d'Oise, near Paris. In a poll this week, 94 per cent of French feared more trouble.
I think Sarko should pledge to the French to allow them to arm themselves.
Sounds promising but I have serious reservations about the busing proposal. As for the scholarships idea, that would best be run by a private charity.
The busing part makes you think, but it is for a completely different reason than busing here. It is an attempt to break up what are essentially madrassas in Muslim neighborhoods.
Maybe it will work. Of course, it’s probably too late to put the horse back in the barn.
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