French Interior Minister Calls for Ending State Medical Aid to Migrants
26th September 2024
France’s new Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, of Les Républicains, is considering ending the controversial AME (Aide Médicale d’Etat), which provides free medical assistance to migrants—including illegal ones. The Left sees this stance as a clear sign of the new team’s benevolence towards the ‘far Right,’ and some ministers have openly expressed their discontent.
Invited to appear on the TF1 television news on Monday, September 23rd, Retailleau asserted that he wanted to “take all possible means to reduce immigration in France.” Among these is the reform, or even abolition, of State Medical Aid (AME). This scheme, which entitles foreigners who have been present on French soil for at least three months to free medical care, is costing the state several billion every year.
When European government-provided health care systems were set up in the wake of WWII, little thought was given to the prospect of immigrants from the Middle East and Africa flooding in and swamping the system. Looks as if people are starting to wake up to the fact that Unintended Consequences can be a bitch.