France will keep its promise to take in 30,000 refugees over the next two years, President François Hollande said on Wednesday. But he said they would be checked thoroughly to make sure they do not pose a threat.
“Our country has the duty to respect this commitment,” Mr. Hollande said, noting that those fleeing areas of Syria and Iraq controlled by the Islamic State were being “tormented” by the “very same people who are attacking us today.”
Speaking at a meeting of the country’s mayors on Wednesday, Mr. Hollande said that France would “remain a country of freedoms.”
Mr. Hollande asked Parliament on Monday for new legislation that would give the government more flexibility to conduct police raids without a warrant and place people under house arrest. He said he would seek court advice on broader surveillance powers. And he called for amendments to the constitution that would make it easier to impose exceptional security measures.
The discovery of a document that purported to be a Syrian passport and that seemed to have been used by a migrant passing through Greece has raised alarms in Europe that the influx of refugees to the continent was bringing new threats with it.
Speaking in Manila on Wednesday, President Obama cautioned against inflating fears of migrants and criticized Republicans for “political posturing” on the admission of Syrian refugees into the United States.
“When candidates say we should not admit 3-year-old orphans, that’s political posturing,” the president said. “When individuals say we should have religious tests, and only Christians, proven Christians, should be allowed, that’s offensive and contrary to American values.”
“We are not well served when, in response to a terrorist attack, we descend into fear and panic,” he said. “We don’t make good decisions if it’s based on hysteria or an exaggeration of risks.”
Aurelien Breeden reported from Paris, and Michael D. Shear from Manila.
THIS IS AS DUMB AS TAKING AWAY ALL THE GUNS IN FRANCE. YESTERDAY A REPORT SAID THE POLICE NEED GUNS, THEY SHOULD NOT HAVE GIVEN THEM UP
SEE WHAT HAPPENS IN A GUN FREE ZONE.
Unfrigginbelievable……………..
It proves their attack in Paris was nothing more than a distraction for the Climate Change summit. Now that they got their thing passed, it’s back to business as usual.