Journalist Sparks Controversy with Comments on Immigrant Integration in France

Invited on LCI to discuss the integration of immigrants in France, the journalist declared: "Foreigners very easily obtain full citizenship, they have the same rights as those who have had French citizenship for centuries."

And she added: "Racism is prohibited by law, it is not an opinion as in other Western democracies." To close this chapter, she noted: "What must be remembered is that sometimes there is not really a willingness to integrate on the part of those who come."

For the journalist, even if France offers certain economic advantages, "there are others who wish to continue to live in the Afghan, Pakistani or Moroccan way." Faced with this observation, El Rhazoui claims that these people can be reproached "for not really making an effort to integrate" because, she will say, "the effort of integration should not always be one-way."

On another aspect of immigration, especially concerning children, Zineb El Rhazoui throws a bombshell, particularly about these children from the third or fourth generation of immigrants who still have foreign first names. According to her, if the first name is "of course a marker of assimilation", it should be noted that it is not the only one.

The journalist then cited her own example to make it clear that if she "chose to give a French first name" to her daughter, it is precisely to "facilitate" her integration. The most important thing remains "the education that will be given to this child, it is the identity storytelling that will be given to him that is important," observed Zineb El Rhazoui, to conclude.