French MP urges end to racism in Europe

When Carlos Martens Bilongo, a French parliamentarian, stood up in the national assembly this month to urge the country to help 234 migrants stranded at sea in the Mediterranean, a far-right MP shouted: "Let him go back to Africa".

Gasps rippled across the parliament, with Bilongo's colleagues immediately calling the comment racist and demanding that Gregoire de Furnas, a newly elected member of the anti-immigration National Rally (RN), be kicked out, according to an independently funded digital news organisation covering stories from the Middle East and North Africa Middle East Eye.

Bilongo himself calmly retorted: "No way!"

Even by French standards, such open racism was shocking, and parliament was quickly suspended.

Speaking to Middle East Eye, Bilongo, a 31-year-old French teacher turned politician for the leftist France Unbowed party (LFI), called the comment "not good for French people and France's image internationally".

It's not hard to see why. The comment not only drew condemnation from large parts of French society but also grabbed international headlines.

"There is racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia in French society, and the French parliament is also a reflection of French society."

"The comment made me feel sad," said Bilongo recalling the incident in his first interview outside France.

"I was shocked to hear such language in the French parliament. However, I stayed calm and didn't move. It was so terrible to hear that."

Born and raised in Val-d'Oise, northern France, to parents of Congolese and Angolan origin, Bilongo said the racist comment speaks to a growing and more strident discourse amongst the far right, now the third-largest party in parliament.

"I was talking about the situation in the Mediterranean on the request of the SOS Mediterranee, an NGO that had rescued 234 migrants for which Italian authorities had refused safe passage when the extremist white nationalist member spoke out," said Bilongo.

"The French parliament is not normally like that - just the white nationalists are like that."

RN, formerly known as the National Front, or FN, headed by the far-right leader Marine Le Pen, won a record number of seats in parliament when legislative elections were held in June.

Having won only eight seats in 2017, RN now has 89. That growing confidence from its numbers is now also being expressed in parliament.