I had never heard of this idea until it was falsely attributed to me the other day, and now here it is getting close to being adopted as French state policy. It seems that unless it is coupled with sane and much-needed restrictions on the other end — on immigrants entering France — this is just creating a circular motion that will drain the French treasury. But at least it is a halting first attempt to do something to prevent the Islamization of France.
From Spiegel Online, with thanks to all who sent this in:
New French President Nicolas Sarkozy made immigration a central issue of his campaign. Now, his new minister for immigration and national identity says its time to start paying immigrants to leave the country.
France is home to over 5 million immigrants — and the new conservative-led government doesn’t plan on making things any more comfortable for them. While the new regime in Paris is determined to curb illegal immigration, it is also looking to encourage legal migrants to reconsider their decision to stay in France — by paying them to go back home.
New immigration minister, Brice Hortefeux, confirmed on Wednesday that the government is planning to offer incentives to more immigrants to return home voluntarily. “We must increase this measure to help voluntary return. I am very clearly committed to doing that,” Hortefeux said in an interview with RFI radio.
Under the scheme, Paris will provide each family with a nest egg of €6,000 ($8,000) for when they go back to their country of origin. A similar scheme, which was introduced in 2005 and 2006, was taken up by around 3,000 families.