Thousands demonstrated in Paris and several French cities on Saturday to protest against upcoming changes to French immigration law and the expulsion of migrants from the Indian Ocean island of Mayotte.
Demonstrators in Paris, including many illegal refugees, marched behind a banner that read: "No to Darmanan law. against repression, imprisonment and deportation," he said, referring to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanan.
Demonstrators also protested Darmanan's Wambucho operation to expel migrants, mostly from the Comoros, from the Indian Ocean island of Mayotte.
Marie-Christine Vergia, vice-president of the French League for Human Rights and former member of the European Parliament, stressed that "the way undocumented Comoros are treated is not worthy of France."
In Marseille, about 300 people demonstrated. Said Mohammadi, a civilian official from the Comoros, said Darmanan law and the Wambucho operation in Mayotte were interrelated.
Also in the city of Rennes, more than 1500,<> people demonstrated chanting "Down with the police state".
Last week, European lawmaker Damien Karim accused France's interior minister of "attacking the poor" and of "wanting to make Mayotte a laboratory for his violent and inhumane policy".
Mayotte has an estimated population of about a quarter of a million, mostly Muslim, about 80 percent of whom live below the poverty line.