Some were born in Algeria, Morocco, Lebanon or Cameroon, before emigrating with their parents. Others were born in France to foreign parents. A few, finally, settled here as adults and acquired French nationality by marriage. Since Monday June 24, the day of the presentation of the National Rally (RN) program for the legislative elections by the president of the far-right party, Jordan Bardella, the announcement of his desire to ban certain so-called jobs “strategic” to dual nationals, worries, hurts and revolts these French people who have kept two nationalities. “I feel like I’m being invited into my home,” summarizes Hanane (she did not wish to give her name), a Franco-Moroccan real estate agency director who lives in Kremlin-Bicêtre (Val-de-Marne).
Before even starting to evoke their anger, everyone wants to say that the examples put forward by Jordan Bardella do not fool anyone – he has cited on several occasions the example of a « Franco-Russian » who would lead ” a nuclear central “. “Franco-Africans, whether from black Africa or the Maghreb, have understood that this proposal is not aimed at the Swedes or the Finns”, quips Benoît Onambélé, a Franco-Cameroonian who works in an international organization in Paris. The meaning of the word “strategic” also fuels concerns. “Piloting an airplane, driving public transport, caring for patients, isn’t that having lives in your hands?”asks Doctor Djillali Annane, head of the intensive care unit at Garches hospital (Hauts-de-Seine) and president of the Union of intensive care doctors.
Everyone has their own relationship with dual nationality. Some had never really thought about it, like Ghassan Rachidi’s four daughters, says this Franco-Lebanese radiologist based in Voiron (Isère), who arrived in France for his studies. But for him, who is “100% French and 100% Lebanese, and even 200% French”the feeling of being called into question in his attachment to France is all the more difficult to bear since he decided to become French by marriage, as an adult.
“How are we going to tell someone who chose France, who adopted its values, often before even arriving, that they are not French enough? That does not make any sense… “also asks Ghada Hatem, a Franco-Lebanese obstetrician-gynecologist and founder of the Maison des femmes de Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis).
“This debate is a bit absurd”
You have 68.71% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
