French PM sparks outrage with immigration 'flooding' remark

Prime Minister Francois Bayrou felt compelled on Tuesday to defend remarks about immigrants "flooding" France after drawing sharp rebukes, including from his allies, but winning applause from the anti-immigration right.

The leftist opposition accused Bayrou of spreading far-right ideas and centrist allies also criticised him, while immigration hardliners in the government and outside praised his suggestion.

"Foreign contributions are a positive for a people, so long as they remain proportionate," Bayrou had told the LCI news channel late Monday.

"But as soon as you get the feeling of flooding, of no longer recognizing your own country, its lifestyle and its culture, rejection appears."

He said such a feeling was not yet widespread, but it was growing and "some cities and regions" were already experiencing it.

Immigration hardliners Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau and Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin defended Bayrou, with Darmanin saying it was "progress" to recognise that "a certain proportion of foreigners on French soil cannot be exceeded".

The vice president of the far-right National Rally party, Sebastien Chenu, cited Bayrou's remarks as evidence that his movement had "won the ideological battle".

- 'Racist' -

But National Assembly speaker Yael Braun-Pivet, a fellow centrist, distanced herself from Bayrou.

"I would never have made such statements and I am embarrassed by them," she said. "France has always been welcoming."

Green parliamentary leader Cyrielle Chatelain said she was "extremely shocked" by Bayrou's "shameful" remarks, which she said reflected "a false idea promoted by the far right".

The boss of hard-left LFI's parliamentary group Mathilde Panot called the view on immigration held by Retailleau and his allies "racist".

Socialist parliamentary leader Boris Vallaud said it was "disgraceful" of Bayrou to "use the words and the fantasies of the far right".

Vallaud said Bayrou's remarks would "influence" his party's decision on whether to support the prime minister in a future vote of no-confidence.

Asked about his remarks during question time in parliament on Tuesday, Bayrou said he stood by his choice of terms.

But in his defense he pointed to the French Indian Ocean department of Mayotte, which has been battling with mass undocumented immigration from the neighbouring Comoros.

"Anybody who is faced with the situation in Mayotte -- which is not alone in France -- can understand that 'flooding' is the most fitting term," Bayrou said.

"An entire community in French departments is faced with waves of illegal immigration that sometimes reach 25 percent of the population," he told lawmakers.

"It is not the words that are shocking, the reality is," he said.

According to France's national statistics agency INSEE, there were some 5.6 million foreigners living in France in 2023, representing 8.2 percent of the overall population, against 6.5 percent in 1975.