France is in turmoil following many years of failed immigration policy, according to Erlend Wiborg of the Progress Party (FrP). He now wants to halt asylum immigration to Norway.
– “The images we’re seeing almost look like civil war-like conditions. Fortunately, that’s not the case,” Wiborg tells Nettavisen.
The immigration policy spokesperson believes that, over time, France has taken in far too many immigrants and allowed parallel societies to develop in the suburbs around Paris and other major cities.
“We can see how things turned out in Sweden. We can see how things are going in France. I now believe the other parties must start to open their eyes, so that we do not end up with similar situations in Norway,” he says.
On Saturday 17 October, around 550,000 people took to the streets across France, according to the French authorities. The protests began amongst school pupils demanding better education. They gradually grew into a broad movement against the rising cost of living. In several towns, the day ended with buildings set alight, vandalism and shops looted.
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Around 1,500 shops were vandalised and looted. Hundreds of police officers have been injured, and at least 1,000 people have been arrested.
Wiborg comments on how Norwegian newspapers have covered the unrest. He believes that the violence has been downplayed, and that the rioters have almost been portrayed as innocent schoolchildren complaining about textbooks and maintenance.
“I think it’s completely absurd that they don’t dare to highlight where a significant part of the problem lies, namely in immigration and inadequate integration,” he says.
Wiborg emphasises that he is not criticising the pupils who started the demonstrations. He believes the protests were hijacked when ‘criminal hooligans’ got involved.
It has not yet been fully established who was behind the violence. The Danish newspaper Berlingske has reviewed French media coverage of those arrested. The newspaper identifies, broadly speaking, two groups: violent activists from the far left and young people from the suburbs, many of whom are said to have taken part in the looting.
In France, it is the suburbs that are areas with particularly high concentrations of immigrants.
According to Le Figaro, around 80 per cent of those arrested were men, many of them aged between 18 and 30.
It is not known how many of them have an immigrant background. However, the videos of the severe violence, the attacks on the police and the widespread looting provide a clear indication.
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The riots have also reignited the immigration debate in Norway. On NRK’s ‘Politisk kvarter’ programme on Thursday, Henrik Asheim, deputy leader of the Conservative Party, linked the unrest to failed integration. SV leader Kirsti Bergstø argued that he was jumping to conclusions, pointing to the far left and saying that the unrest is more about class than ethnicity.
Wiborg supports Asheim, but criticises the Conservative Party for a lack of political will.
– We must slam on the brakes. We must drastically limit immigration to Norway by stopping asylum-based immigration,” he says.
He also wants to tighten up family reunification and restrict secondary settlement. He warns against neighbourhoods with over 50 per cent immigrants and schools with over 90 per cent.
The Conservative Party and the Labour Party have started to take a tougher line on immigration. This does not impress Wiborg.
– It’s no use talking about it and saying you want to tighten the rules when, in reality, you’re barely doing so.
