BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 30. Representatives of French colonies as well as researchers from different universities around the world made presentations on the topic at the first panel session on "The Negative Impact of Colonialism, Assimilation Policies on Local Communities" of the conference "The Road to Decolonization: the Consequences of Assimilation and its Impact on the Realization of Human Rights" organized by the Baku Initiative Group at the UN Office in Vienna, Trend reports.
The presenters discussed the major challenges produced by the assimilation policy. It was asserted that France's colonial policy is focused on population assimilation and cultural denial.
"France wants us - the colonized peoples - to be the 'real French people' and deny everything that reminds us of our origins - our mother tongue, our commitment to our land, our ancestral heritage, etc.," the representatives of the peoples affected by the assimilation policy said in strong protest against it.
Furthermore, it was stated that the assimilation policy was being applied to people from Africa, the Maghreb, Asia, the Caribbean, and South America because they were neither white nor Christian. France has a policy of lowering individuals by dividing between civilized and inferior races, as several French writers have pointed out in their writings.
The session discussed that assimilation is a form of colonialism.
"Getting rid of assimilation entails removing colonialism, its ideological dogmas, economic and social institutions, political governance, and cultural representations. It is an endeavor to show through the reconstruction of our society that there is no better race, civilization, or selected people. If we wish to survive and coexist, we must reconsider our position in the world," the Deputy of the Martinique Assembly and member of the Baku Initiative Group Luke Francis Caroll said.
He noted that assimilation is a means of ideological influence, serving very real political, economic, and strategic interests, but without any scientific basis. "Surely the people and countries that have suffered from this ideology for centuries must be at the forefront of the struggle to fundamentally change humanity's view of the world and the future. The key here is to change people and the world, to take concrete steps to get rid of the constant disrespect," said Francis Caroll.
French minority language researcher Roland Laffitte spoke about the growing problem of racism in his country, police injustice against Arabs and Africans, and the fact that they are subjected to unwarranted police checks. He said that lawyers call it systemic racism. Talking about bias against Muslims, the researcher noted that this has gone beyond racist movements and has become commonplace in the political sphere and media. Roland Laffitte emphasized that the growing Islamophobia in his country is worrying.
The French journalist Jean-Michel Brun, also criticizing his country's colonial policy, elaborated on the atrocities committed in Algeria during the colonial years and pointed out the true aims of assimilation. Under the pretext of assimilation, he said, colonial peoples had been torn away from their ancestors and traditions.
The spokesperson for the National Alliance of Guadeloupe, Nathalie Minachi, stated that Guadeloupe is still a country of migrants. She noted that Europeans are being settled in Guadeloupe with promises of land and financial benefits to reduce the local population in the country. The people of Guadeloupe are even forbidden to practice their religion and speak their native language. Minachi stressed that French colonialism was aimed at destroying other cultures and languages, which were presented as subcultures.
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