France no longer wants Moroccan imams

The fight against separatism continues in France. In a correspondence sent to Morocco, Algeria and Turkey, Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior, explained that France would no longer accept new imams, starting January 1, 2024. According to his explanations, the detached imams still present in the Hexagon in 2024 will not be able to remain "under this status". The aim is not to prevent foreign imams from preaching in France, but to ensure that none are paid by a foreign state of which they would be a civil servant or public agent, he specifies in his letter.

On February 18, 2020, President Emmanuel Macron had announced, in a speech against "Islamist separatism" in Mulhouse, the gradual end in France of the system of detached imams (about 300 imams) who serve in France and are paid by foreign countries. He had also announced increased control of foreign financing of places of worship, in order to be able to block suspicious projects. "We must know where the money comes from, who receives it and for what purpose," the President of the French Republic had insisted. The next day, Christophe Castaner, then Minister of the Interior, declared on the airwaves of RFI: "We are working on the end of detached imams in 2024. [...] I have indicated to the foreign countries, which are the countries of origin - Morocco, Turkey and Algeria - that the deadline is 2024". Especially since the detached imams who are there and who are arriving have a three-year residence permit.

However, in his letter, Gérald Darmanin specified that the "Ramadan imams" - these some 300 reciters and chanters who go to France during the blessed month for Muslims - are not affected by this measure. Their arrival is "not called into question", he assured.

The French government is also counting on the training of imams as part of the fight against separatism. It proposes in this sense that an "increasing share" of the imams officiating on the territory be, "at least partially, trained in France". It also intends to support imams’ access to university training, such as those launched in 2023 by the French Institute of Islamology for example.