‘Go back to Africa’: Furore in French Assembly after right-wing member’s remark to Black lawmaker

A Black lawmaker in France was heckled and asked to ‘Go back to Africa’ a right-wing colleague on Thursday, causing uproar in the parliament’s lower house, as per media reports.
In a moment caught on video, Carlos Martens Bilongo, a representative from the France Unbowed (LFI) party, is seen speaking on an immigration-related issue during a session of the National Assembly when other members in the house start heckling.
Amid this, Grégoire de Fournas, a member of the anti-immigration National Rally (RN) party reportedly shouted “Qu’il retourne en Afrique”.

National Rally deputy Gregoire de Fournas has caused uproar in France’s National Assembly for suggesting MP Carlos Martens Bilongo should “return to Africa”. pic.twitter.com/2uXdXmhqCN
— TalkTV (@TalkTV) November 4, 2022
The 31-year-old Bilongo, a Paris-born teacher, was speaking on an NGO’s request to the government for help in finding a port that can take in the hundreds of immigrants rescued at sea, reported news agency AFP.
Assembly suspended
The National Assembly was suspended following the furore. Prime Miner Elisabeth Borne called for sanctions against Fournas and said that racism has no place in our society, reported France-based Le Monde. President Emmanuel Macron was said to have been “hurt” the “intolerable comment.”
A parliamentary committee is set to meet on Friday to review the incident and discuss the measures to be taken.
Meanwhile, Fournas apologised to Bilongo for “the misunderstanding” his comments caused and said that the remark was meant as a counter to illegal immigration and not a personal attack. (In French, the pronoun “he” and “they” are pronounced the same.) His party members have said that Fournas was calling for the return of the boat carrying the migrants to African shores and that his words were being manipulated the LFI party.
Fournas’ party leader Marine Le Pen, who lost to Macron in the recently concluded presidential elections, supported her MP and said in a tweet that the controversy was created the opposition.