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00:00For his first official outing as Interior Minister, Bruno Routailleau said he wanted
00:05to show support to police officers.
00:08Visiting a station in the French capital's northern suburbs, Routailleau reiterated one
00:13of his priorities, reducing immigration.
00:16In his own words, naturalise as little as possible, but deport as much as possible.
00:22The people of Europe want firmness.
00:24They want us to get this migration mess under control.
00:27When you take a certain number of criteria, social aid, access to health care, accommodation,
00:32asylum, France is very often one of the most attractive European countries.
00:36My goal is for our country to be in line with the European average, so it doesn't stand
00:40out when it comes to people traffickers.
00:45To reduce immigration in France, the new minister is considering a number of actions, including
00:50reforming state medical assistance, which guarantees free medical and hospital care
00:55to irregular migrants who've been in the country at least three months.
00:59Routailleau also wants to reinstate the offence of illegal residents abolished in 2012, as
01:05well as reverse certain agreements with Algeria.
01:08The minister says he's in favour of revoking a 1968 agreement that gives special status
01:13to Algerians in terms of movement, residence and employment in France, however the treaty
01:19is governed by international law, not French law.
01:22Routailleau's appointment and his initial statements have triggered an outcry from the
01:27left.
01:28One politician has even accused him of racism for past comments.