Sarkozy says to trim migrants quota by 50%
Updated: 2012-03-07 10:27
(Xinhua)
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France's President Nicolas Sarkozy speaks during an interview on French national television in Paris, March 6, 2012. [Photo/Agencies] |
PARIS - French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday said if re-elected, he would cut immigration flows to half, rejecting accusations of moving to the far right wing to garner enough voices to guarantee a second term.
"Our system of integration is working more and more badly, because we have too many foreigners on our territory and we can no longer manage to find them accommodation, a job, a school," Sarkozy told the government-run TV channel France 2.
Defending his re-election campaign promise to ease immigrants flows, Sarkozy targeted to cut the number of new arrivals to about 100,000 immigrants over the next five years from 180,000 received currently in order "to revive with favorable conditions the integration."
Asked about his attempt to entice voters away from the National Front with the focus on immigration and security, the president stressed that immigration issue "is not a question of right or left."
"There is no land belonging to the extreme right. The debate is simply confiscated and when I just say the word immigration I'm accused of right-wing extremism," Sarkozy said.
According to figures provided by the High Council for Integration (HCI), 11.5 million immigrants or children of immigrants live in France, representing 19 percent of the country's 65 million population and nearly 180,000 people arrive in France each year.
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