Banned in Paris

A conference titled “Remigration: Let’s Open the Debate!” was set to be held in Paris on Saturday, October 31, hosted by the identitarian think tank Polémia. Ironically, this conference called for opening the debate, yet an opportunity for free speech was stolen from us; the French authorities suddenly banned the conference.

The Préfecture des Hauts-de-Seine — the departmental police authority — acted on the orders of the interior minister to stop the conference. Polémia immediately appealed to the Administrative Court of Cergy-Pontoise. Polémia argued that the ban violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as well as the European Convention on Human Rights, but the court ignored its appeal and upheld the ban, citing “human dignity.” The mayor oversaw the ban.

The conference was publicly advertised months in advance, yet the French authorities waited until the last moment to issue a ban. By then, the speakers — including Renaud Camus, Jean-Yves Le Gallou and Alice Cordier from France, Charlie Downes and Lucy White from Great Britain, Afonso Gonçalves from Portugal, Lena Kotré from Germany — and more than 700 guests were in Paris, flights and hotels booked and paid for.

Jean-Yves Le Gallou

Lucy White and Renaud Camus

Why are they so desperate to stop us? The answer is simple: They are losing and we are winning. Our ideas are so coherent and powerful that they cannot debate us; instead, they try to silence us. But ideas cannot be silenced. Some of the comrades decorated anti-immigrant store protectors with the forbidden word.

The French authorities also banned all associated events. This included the Save Europe Act’s proposed peaceful counter-demonstration to the ongoing so-called “student protests,” more accurately described as riots by second- and third-generation African and Arab migrants in alliance with the radical left. The authorities also detained and deported Martin Sellner, the co-founder of the Save Europe Act, upon his arrival at a Paris airport.

Martin Sellner holding his expulsion papers.

Martin Sellner is Austrian, and Austria and France are in the Schengen Area. An Austrian with a valid national ID may enter France without a passport. So, how could France deny him entry and deport him? The authorities determined that Mr. Sellner would present a “real, current, and sufficiently serious” threat to public order, and so put him on an indefinite entry and residence ban. Mr. Sellner is fighting this in court.

What was Mr. Sellner’s “crime”? Having the “wrong” opinion, according to the French authorities. Ironically, on October 29, an official Brussels site tweeted, “In the EU, we have strong anti-discrimination laws, so we need to enforce them. Anti-racism becomes real only when it is enforced.” Anti-discrimination laws do not apply to nationalists who oppose their globalist agenda.

The silver lining is that the French authorities have proven they can deport people whenever they like. But rather than deport the second- and third-generation migrants who are rioting and burning, they chose to deport a man who is trying to save Europe from its self-destruction.

We powered on with our event, albeit in a different format. The speeches could not be delivered in person to our audience of over 700 patriots, so the speakers went to a studio to record their speeches, which were livestreamed on YouTube and broadcast on Radio Courtoisie.

Charlie Downes

Sunday, the day after the conference, was a whole new level of chaos. The group Objectif Remigration arranged a small, private group discussion in a restaurant, finally to bring speakers together. This small event was due to end somewhere between 15:00 and 16:00, but at 14:00, the French police entered and drove us into the street where there were approximately 100 officers. They treated us like criminals, just for wanting to speak on immigration.

We had more ideas up our sleeves. The Save Europe Act activists had organized a remigration banner drop on a bridge by the Eiffel Tower, so we headed over there. A large banner that read “Remigration Saves Europe” was flying proudly in front of the tower. They may have banned our conference, but they cannot ban our message.

Something we did not anticipate was that a group of English patriots would be attacked by Africans! The group had traveled to Paris to film both the ongoing riots and the remigration conference. At the Eiffel Tower, they found dozens of sub-Saharans selling fake souvenirs. The Englishmen filmed them, and the Africans threw corncobs.

The situation escalated when a black man charged towards an Englishwoman who was with them. (Short video of the attack here.) Two of the young men stepped in to defend her, which sparked a full-blown fight. During an intense series of kicks and punches, the blacks grabbed camera equipment and threw some headphones into the River Seine. The Englishmen managed to de-escalate and leave without serious injuries.

Despite the chaos and uncertainties, we had a brilliant weekend. Patriots from across the continent connected, and our network grew even stronger. There are many lessons to be learned from this weekend, perhaps the most pertinent being that the authorities resort to lawfare because it is all they have. They will try to stop us, but they can never stop the idea. Remigration is inevitable.