French parliament halted as MP shouts ‘go back to Africa’

A rightwing French MP has caused uproar by yelling “Go back to Africa” during a Black lawmaker’s comments at a parliamentary session broadcast to the public on Thursday.

Grégoire de Fournas, a parliamentary representative from the National Rally (RN) party, interrupted Carlos Martens Bilongo, a representative from the far-left party France Unbowed (LFI) during a session of the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament.

Bilongo was calling on the French government to collaborate with EU counties – notably Italy and its newly-elected far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni – to assist several hundred African migrants rescued from the Mediterranean sea.

De Fournas interrupted, shouting “go back to Africa.”

The President of the lower house of the French parliament Yaël Braun-Pivet subsequently suspended the legislative session, later saying the comment would be investigated.

The comment sparked criticism and condemnation as it was alleged de Fournas may have directly targeted Bilongo with his words, as in the French language the pronouns “he” and “they” are pronounced the same.

De Fournas defended his comment and accused opponents of “manipulation”, and his party also denied any personal attack on Bilongo. De Fournas later apologised to Bilongo for “the misunderstanding my comments caused”.