French court confirms ban on anti-migrant group

France's highest court approves government decision to ban far-right group

File photo: Taken on February 20, 2021, members and supporters of far right group Generation Identitaire (GI) hold a flag during a protest against its potential dissolution in Paris. AFP

France's highest administrative court on Monday approved the government decision to ban far-right group Generation Identitaire, which on several occasions tried to stop migrants entering the country.

The government's decision was "proportionate" to the risk the group posed to public order, it ruled, confirming the March 3 decree.

Generation Identitaire justified its actions by claiming it was contributing to the public debate on immigration and the fight against "terrorism", the judgment noted.

But it had "for several years propagated ideas ... that tended to justify or encourage discrimination, hatred or violence towards foreigners and the Muslim religion", it added.

Generation Identitaire spokeswoman Thais D'escufon denounced the ruling as a "political decision".

But Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who published the March decree ordering the group's dissolution, welcomed the ruling in a tweet on Monday evening.

The court's position was clear, Mr Darmanin said.

"Generation Identitaire promotes an ideology inciting hatred and violence," he said.

One of the group's last operations was in January, when about 30 members gathered at the Col du Portillon pass on the border of France and Spain in what they called a surveillance operation to "defend Europe".

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