France to Inspect 76 Mosques in Crackdown on Separatism

"In accordance with my instructions, the state services will launch a massive and unprecedented action against separatism," he wrote on Twitter, adding that 76 mosques suspected of separatism will be checked in the coming days and those that will have to be closed will be.

The minister’s entourage confirmed to AFP that Mr. Darmanin sent all the prefects a note on November 27, in which he detailed the action to be taken. This document specifies that 76 places of worship have been targeted, 16 in the Paris region and 60 in the rest of France. These places will be checked. Among them, 18 will be targeted by "immediate actions" at the request of the Minister of the Interior, which can go as far as closure.

Of these 18 "targets", three are located in Seine-Saint-Denis: one has ignored a closure decision taken by the mayor of the municipality, a second closed in 2019 has continued to organize prayers and the third was the subject of an unfavorable opinion from the security commission, without the State verifying the effective closure of the mosque, the same source said.

Of the 15 other places, there are five in the Paris region or in the immediate vicinity of the Île-de-France region (three in Val-d’Oise, one in Seine-et-Marne and one in Oise) and 10 in the regions (including two in Hérault, two in Vaucluse, the rest notably in Haute-Garonne, Moselle, Nord, Bas-Rhin, Var).