Europe’s War on the Remigration Debate
12th November 2026
On October 31, as Paris was still dealing with violent demonstrations and unrest, the French government made an extraordinary decision: it prohibited a peaceful political conference on remigration. The contrast was difficult to miss. While protesters were throwing Molotov cocktails at police, an international gathering of politicians, writers, and activists seeking to debate European immigration policy was deemed too dangerous to take place. I was among those scheduled to speak at the conference, which was ironically titled “Remigration: Let’s Open the Debate!”
Organized by Polémia, the event was intended to bring together approximately 800 participants from Europe and the United States to discuss remigration—a term increasingly used to describe the return or deportation of foreign nationals, whether voluntary or compulsory.
Two days before the scheduled gathering, organizers received an official decree prohibiting it. French interior ministry authorities invoked the possibility of public disorder and characterized remigration as a xenophobic and racist ideology. An administrative court subsequently rejected an emergency appeal, forcing the organizers to move the conference online, where it was broadcast on X and YouTube.
Unfortunately, that particular prohibition was only the beginning. Austrian remigration activist Martin Sellner, scheduled to speak at the conference, was denied entry into France upon arriving at Paris–Beauvais Airport. He was detained, held in a cell all night without his phone, and subsequently deported to Austria. Sellner was also prevented from holding a book event and attending a rally in support of the Save Europe Act, a European citizens’ initiative advocating remigration. After French authorities prevented the rally from taking place, several hundred peaceful activists gathered at a restaurant outside central Paris. Within hours, police told everyone to leave the premises.
Three interventions in the space of a few days effectively dismantled an entire program of peaceful political activity.