PARIS, 04 December, 2020, (TON): France’s interior minister has announced a crackdown on 76 mosques that the government suspects of “separatism”.

The French government launched a massive and unprecedented wave of measures to combat what it calls religious “extremism”, targeting mosques.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said the mosques would be inspected and any found to be “breeding grounds of terrorism” would be shut.

He also said 66 undocumented migrants suspected of “radicalisation” had been deported.

President Emmanuel Macron’s government has responded to several deadly attacks in recent weeks with a promise to crack down on what Darmanin has said is “the enemy within”.

The move is part of the French government’s ongoing campaign against Muslims after a series of attacks, which is unjustly targeting the wider Muslim community.

The president, Emmanuel Macron, has strenuously denied that new legislation to reinforce secularism that he outlined at the beginning of October was targeting Muslims. He said the law, under which France would train imams and impose a wider ban on home schooling and controls on religious, sporting and cultural associations, was aimed at tackling “Islamist separatism”.

Following the murder of teacher Samuel Paty in a Paris suburb in October, raids and pressure on Muslim associations and mosques have increased.

France is home to the largest Muslim minority population in Europe, and some fear being collectively punished after a series of attacks in recent months. The government’s crackdown has left Muslims feeling increasingly alienated in their own country.