Mayor pushes ‘Great Replacement’ project in rural France despite protests, refuses to hold citizen referendum on accepting migrant families

In the letter, the mayor rejected a referendum on the issue and instead tried to assuage the town that a citizen’s council should decide on how the project is implemented. The move comes after Sud Radio reported that a witnesses during a meeting with the mayor, which included 12 other eyewitnesses, related that the mayor said he would not hold a referendum because 80 percent of residents are against the measure. He reportedly said: “I would lose it.”

At the national level, 62 percent of French say they want to hold a national referendum on continued immigration, with other polls showing that a majority of French are both opposed to further immigration into France and worried about the Great Replacement, which describes the ongoing displacement of Europeans by non-European people in the West.

[...]

The protests against the project were attended by various conservative activists and the Reconquest party. However, spearheading the effort is a citizens’ initiative made up of residents of Callac who are rejecting the transfer of migrants to their town. These citizens point to the already high unemployment rate in Callac; they ask where jobs will be found for the new migrants when jobs cannot even be found for the people who live in the area, which features an unemployment rate of 17.6 percent. In addition, they point to potential overcrowding in schools and daycare, and the millions of taxpayer euros that will be needed to integrate the newcomers.

At the demonstration, protesters held up signs against the “African repopulation of our cities” while others pointed to the events in Callac, a peaceful town of 2,200 inhabitants in the Côtes-d’Armor, as a clear and identifiable symbol of the Great Replacement. Left-wing counter-protesters chanted against what they claimed was “fascism.” Many of those protesting both from the right and left were not from the area. According to a report from Le Figaro newspaper, residents are saying: “We don’t want to be guinea pigs!” They point out that the “Horizon Village” project is an experiment funded by the Merci Endowment Fund, which was created in 2009 by the Cohen family.

As Remix News previously reported, Cohen family members, who are the former owners of the upscale children’s clothing brand Bonpoint, live in some of the wealthiest areas of France, all of which feature remarkably low diversity. Nevertheless, the family is focused on Callac for now but also plans to relocate refugees across the countryside. While the family has put up millions to further this goal, the French government has also pledged to back the project with taxpayers’ money. However, the Cohen family is only providing funding for 10 years, after which point, the town would be on its own.