Opening the debate, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, the bill’s sponsor, said the aim is to stop “an Islamist hostile takeover targeting Muslims.” He stressed that “we are not fighting against a religion,” although some Muslims in France have voiced concern that it adds a new layer of stigmatization for them. Other religions, from Buddhists to Roman Catholics, have complained they also could suffer fallout from the text.
In ways small and large, the bill seeks oversight in the functioning of associations and mosques, including foreign financing, and aims to plug up entry points for Islamist ideology in the lives of Muslims.
Among the 51 articles, the bill aims to ensure that public service employees respect neutrality and secularism, while protecting them against threats or violence.
In a bid to protect children from indoctrination and to do away with underground schools, the text requires all children from age 3 to attend a regular school. Around 50,000 children were home-schooled in 2020, according to French media. But the number of “clandestine schools” where children are reportedly indoctrinated in radical ideology is unknown.
Among other key points, the bill aims to keep a close watch on associations, including those that often run mosques, with measures including one aimed at ensuring that outsiders can’t take control of an association.