Mayors of some big cities of France said they are ready to accept Afghans fleeing the country after the Taliban came to power — in response to President Emmanuel Macron, who started talking about refugees from Afghanistan as a threat.
This was reported by BFMTV.
Macron said that we need to “prepare and protect ourselves from significant flows of illegal migrants, which could pose a danger to those who receive them.”
“Mr. Macron, we have the capacity to welcome people with dignity,” Lyon Mayor Gregory Doucet responded, saying his city was “ready to support the duty of humanity.”
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo also reposted the UN secretary general’s call for all countries of the world to be ready to accept refugees from Afghanistan.
The mayor of Grenoble, Eric Piel, said Macron’s words were “shameful for France” and that Grenoble was ready to accept refugees.
The mayor of Marseille, Benot Aayan, assured that the city is open to “all persecuted people who need to survive and live, whether they are from Kabul or elsewhere.”
The mayor of Clermont-Ferrand also expressed his readiness to receive refugees from Afghanistan, noting that “we have to act according to our values,” as well as the mayors of Besanconou, Strasbourg, and Tours.
But there were also opposite reactions. For example, the mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, said that he did not want to receive Afghans.
