France’s Teetery Effort to Reverse Creeping Islamization
http://www.stonegateinstitute.org/2719/france-creeping-islamization
Muslim immigrants will find it more difficult to obtain French citizenship from now on.
New citizenship rules that entered into effect on January 1, 2012 will require all applicants to pass exams on French culture and history and also to prove that their French language skills are equivalent to those of a 15-year-old native speaker. Moreover, candidates seeking French citizenship will be required to pledge allegiance to “French values.”
The new measures — drawn up by Interior Minister Claude Guéant — are part of a concerted effort by the French government to push back against the Islamization of France.
Muslim applicants make up the majority of the 100,000 people who are naturalized as French citizens each year comes amid rising frustration that the country’s estimated 6.5 million Muslims are not integrating into French society.
Guéant has said that immigrants who refuse to assimilate should be denied French citizenship.
According to Guéant, a member of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s ruling UMP party, the citizenship process should be “a solemn occasion between the host nation and the applicant” and that immigrants should be integrated through language and “an adherence to the principals, values and symbols of our democracy.”
From now on, applicants for French citizenship will also be required to sign a new charter establishing their rights and responsibilities. Drafted by France’s High Council for Integration (HCI), the charter reads: “Becoming French is not a mere administrative step. It is a decision that requires a lot of thought … applicants will no longer be able to claim allegiance to another country while on French soil.” The new rules, however, will not affect dual nationality, which will still be allowed.