“One, two, three, go back to your country”. It was in Lyon last September, when young activists from the ultra-right group Génération Identitaire distorted a famous song by supporters of the Algerian football team. They then denounced the “scum” as they say who according to them would make the law in the streets of the city, asking for “concrete measures to restore order and security”.
Particularly well established in Lyon and Toulouse, the movement founded in 2012 now claims 2,800 members in France and has often been noticed by media stunts to make its demands heard.
In April 2018, for example, he made himself visible by deploying a banner against migrants in the Hautes-Alpes, on the border between France and Italy. The year before, Génération Identitaire had chartered a ship in the Mediterranean to stop boats welcoming migrants
“We imagined classic rescue operations when in reality it was a real sea taxi”, affirmed Jean-Daniel Cattin, former member of the Bloc Identitaire, now a member of Génération Identitaire.
The provocations also took place in Paris in June 2020 on the sidelines of a demonstration against police violence organized by Assa Traoré and his family. “We came to demand justice for all the victims of anti-white racism at the demonstration organized by the Traoré. We were tired of seeing all the politicians bow down to this family of delinquents”, argued Thaïs’Escuffon, spokesperson for the movement.
A xenophobic and violent discourse that deliberately mixes immigration and Islam. The Interior Ministry has just initiated proceedings to dissolve this far-right group.
