Sarkozy wants to slash immigration
The president-candidate wants to almost halve the number of incomers and make it harder for them to have social security
PRESIDENT-CANDIDATE Sarkozy wants to almost halve the number of immigrants and make it harder for newcomers to access social security benefits.
Sarkozy said on France 2 that he wanted to cut immigrants from about 180,000 to 100,000 per year.
He also said if reelected he wants to limit access to the RSA and Aspa income support benefits to those foreign immigrants who have lived at least 10 years in France and have worked for five of them.
“Is it normal that someone can come to France after age 60 and have Aspa that is more than the entitlement of the widow of a farmer who paid in all her life and has a small pension? It’s not normal,” he said.
He added it was normal “to ask foreigners, who are welcome, to also make an effort”.
“I want foreigners to come to France because they love France and want to build a life here, not because we have a more favourable social security system than our neighbours.”
Currently foreign people who are legally resident in France have the same rights as the French.
Connexion believes that Mr Sarkozy was referring to non-EU immigrants in his remarks – the strict definition of the term étrangers that he used - however we will be seeking further clarification.
