Over 2,300 people have been arrested in connection with the multiple-day riots that shook France earlier this month following the fatal shooting of a teen named Nahel in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.
Many have speculated about a connection between immigration and the rioting, with former presidential candidate Éric Zemmour explicitly blaming French immigration policy during an interview published last Sunday.
“No one can ignore reality anymore,” Zemmour said and added, “in spite of everything, most of the political class wants to believe that it is a social crisis when the root cause is obvious: immigration.”
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, however, pushed back against such claims, stating that many of the arrested rioters were named Kevin or Matteo, names not commonly associated with those of immigrant backgrounds.
However, the newspaper L’Opinion was able to view statistics from the French National Police regarding arrests made of rioters and found that those with Arab-Muslim names were well represented, with 81 of the rioters arrested named Mohammed, by far the most common name.
The newspaper revealed 18 names representing over ten arrests each for a total of 335 arrests and discovered that 160 of them had Arabic-Muslim names like Mohammed, Yacin, Yanis, Ali, or Ibrahim.
While several Western names appeared on the list, neither Kevin nor Matteo represented any large share of arrested rioters despite Minister Darmanin’s comments.
Arab-Muslim names have become increasingly more popular in recent decades in France, with Mohammed reported as the most popular baby name for boys in the Paris suburbs of Seine-Saint-Denis, which is well-known for having a high proportion of residents with a migrant background.
The riots have put migration issues in the forefront of French politics and a poll released this week by broadcaster CNews reveals that the French public is in favour of heavy penalties for migrant rioters.
The poll, conducted by CSA, states that 73% of the French would support stripping citizenship from rioters who were dual nationals, a punishment rarely seen except in severe crimes, such as terrorism cases.
The poll found that men were more likely than women to support stripping rioters of their French citizenship but only slightly as both sexes strongly supported the proposal. The idea also has broad support across all age groups, with the strongest opposition coming from those under 35, although just 34% of that age bracket were against the policy.
While the pollsters expected supporters of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) and Éric Zemmour’s Reconquête to overwhelmingly support stripping citizenship from rioters, they were also surprised to see broad support even from the left, with 70% of the Socialists approving.
The riots and their aftermath have largely benefited Ms. Le Pen and the RN as more mainstream figures echo Le Pen’s past comments on immigration and crime.
Bruno Retailleau, head of the conservative group in the French senate, stated, “As soon as we want to be firm they say, ‘Oh la la. Scandal! The fascists are arriving! You’re like the National Rally,’” and added, “We’re sick of being politically correct.”
The riots, which took place in more than 200 cities across France, caused an estimated €650 million in damages according to French insurers, while others have claimed the true cost could be over a billion euros.
Insurers say around 11,300 claims had been made so far, though more claims could be made. The destruction is significant: about 5,600 vehicles were destroyed, most set on fire, 1,300 buildings were vandalised and damaged and 700 police were injured as a result of the violence.
