France’s Zemmour Says He Could Seize African Leaders’ Homes If They Don’t Take Back Immigrants

French far-right commentator Eric Zemmour, candidate for the 2022 French presidential election, attends a press conference to present his political program in Paris, France, March 23, 2022. (Reuters)
French far-right commentator Eric Zemmour, candidate for the 2022 French presidential election, attends a press conference to present his political program in Paris, France, March 23, 2022. (Reuters)
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France’s Zemmour Says He Could Seize African Leaders’ Homes If They Don’t Take Back Immigrants

French far-right commentator Eric Zemmour, candidate for the 2022 French presidential election, attends a press conference to present his political program in Paris, France, March 23, 2022. (Reuters)
French far-right commentator Eric Zemmour, candidate for the 2022 French presidential election, attends a press conference to present his political program in Paris, France, March 23, 2022. (Reuters)

Far-right French presidential candidate Eric Zemmour said on Wednesday that he could seize the homes of African leaders and block remittances to their countries if they failed to take back immigrants, as he seeks to reboot his flagging campaign.

Zemmour, 63, a former political commentator, has made immigration and security the center of his campaign and said this week that, if elected, he would create a Ministry of "Re-Immigration" that would deport hundreds of thousands of immigrants over his five-year term.

That campaign promise drew a rebuke from the National Rassemblement's Marine Le Pen, who is also far-right. She called the proposal "anti-republican" in a Tuesday interview with BFM TV, though she declined, when pressed, to say if it was racist.

Zemmour had been considered to be a formidable challenger to Le Pen, but is trying to reverse his political fortunes as opinion polls have shown him dropping behind his competitors and unlikely to make it to the second and final round of the election next month.

President Emmanuel Macron, a centrist whose policymaking has drifted to the right, and Le Pen are front-runners in the first round of the election, polls show, in a re-run of the 2017 election. Macron is favored to win the final round.

As president, Zemmour would go to Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia to negotiate accords for the expulsions, he has said. About 30% of French immigrants were born in one of those three countries, according to the French Institute of Demographic Studies.

Asked what he would do if the countries' leaders refused, Zemmour told a news conference: "The heads of African countries have homes in France. We could seize them, you see. There are a number of foreigners who send money through Western Union. That's an important part of the budgets of these countries. We can block them. I call those ways to put pressure."

Zemmour insisted on Wednesday he was the only presidential candidate in the race who could unify a fragmented French right.

He also defended his focus on immigration despite Russia's invasion of Ukraine, saying France's main challenges remained "identity and security".

"It's not because of an exterior crisis that interior crises miraculously evaporate," Zemmour said.



Malta Offers to Repair Gaza Aid Ship in Drone Strike Row

FILE PHOTO: A tug vessel puts a fire on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla vessel Conscience outside Maltese territorial waters in this handout picture provided by Malta Government Department of Information, May 2, 2025. Government of Malta/Handout via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: A tug vessel puts a fire on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla vessel Conscience outside Maltese territorial waters in this handout picture provided by Malta Government Department of Information, May 2, 2025. Government of Malta/Handout via REUTERS
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Malta Offers to Repair Gaza Aid Ship in Drone Strike Row

FILE PHOTO: A tug vessel puts a fire on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla vessel Conscience outside Maltese territorial waters in this handout picture provided by Malta Government Department of Information, May 2, 2025. Government of Malta/Handout via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: A tug vessel puts a fire on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla vessel Conscience outside Maltese territorial waters in this handout picture provided by Malta Government Department of Information, May 2, 2025. Government of Malta/Handout via REUTERS

Malta offered on Sunday to repair an aid ship and send it on its way to Gaza after pro-Palestinian activists said the vessel had been hit by a drone strike.

But Prime Minister Robert Abela said the Freedom Flotilla Coalition must first allow a maritime surveyor on board to inspect the "Conscience" and determine what repairs are needed, AFP reported.

The pro-Palestinian activists had pointed the finger at Israel, which has blockaded the Gaza Strip throughout its military campaign against Hamas, for the attack.

If the ship can be fixed at sea, it will be, but otherwise it will be towed under Maltese control to the Mediterranean island for repairs, paid for by Malta.

"In the last few hours there was insistence that first the boat comes into Maltese waters and then the surveyor is allowed onboard," Abela said.

"Before a vessel -- any vessel -- is allowed to enter Maltese waters then control must be in the hands of Maltese authorities, especially when we are talking about a vessel with no flag, no insurance."

In an online press conference, members of the coalition who had been due to board the Conscience in Malta -- including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg -- said they had agreed to allow the inspection.

"When we received this offer from the Maltese government, we consulted with all of our Flotilla Coalition committee members who are on board," said Brazilian FFC volunteer Thiago Avila.

"And their decision is that this is a good proposition from the Maltese government," he said.

"As long as they can guarantee ... Conscience will not be stopped when it wants to leave on the humanitarian mission to take aid to Gaza."

The activists explained the Conscience has no flag because the government of the Pacific nation of Palau had announced that they were withdrawing their registration on Friday, the day of the alleged strike.

Otherwise, they insisted they had made every effort to comply with international maritime law when embarking on the mission to take aid to Palestinians in Gaza.

According to the Flotilla Coalition, the Conscience was attacked in international waters as it headed for Malta on Friday, causing a fire that disabled the vessel and minor injuries to crew members.

Maltese and Cypriot rescuers responded. No government has confirmed the Conscience was the victim of drones, but Cyprus's rescue agency said it had been informed by the island's foreign ministry of an Israeli strike.

The Israeli military did not provide an immediate response when contacted by AFP.

First reported by CNN, a flight tracking service showed that an Israeli C-130 military cargo plane had been in the area immediately before the incident and had made several low altitude sweeps over the area.

Israel is known for conducting covert operations beyond its borders, including several during the Gaza war that it only acknowledged later.

The activists said the strike appeared to target the boat's generator.