Delegate name- Abdullah Yusoof Country- The French Republic

Committee- General Assembly Topic- Elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia

and related intolerance; particularly directed towards minority
communities

1. What does the French Republic think about the topic?

The nation and delegate of the French Republic supports the discussion of the topic at hand.

2. What has the French Republic done/doing to combat the issue at hand?
Color Blind Policy
Since the early 1970s, the French Republic has maintained a strict color-blind model. This means
that France targets virtually no policies directly at racial or ethnic groups. The nation does not
collect data through racial demographics, instead prefer geographical demographics for data.
Furthermore, this model ensures that the nation does not implement policies “race-conscious”
policies. There are no public policies in France that target benefits or confer recognition on
groups defined as races. Indeed, the word ‘race’ in France would make French people shiver as
the words tend to make them recall the Jewish Genocide in World War II- the Holocaust. On top
of that, a law was implemented in 1978 in the nation explicitly banning the collection and
computerized storage of race-based data in the nation. This makes sure privacy and security of
all communities are maintained
Cracking down on hate speech and discrimination is jobs, education, etc.
A law was implemented in 1972 that still forms the foundation of National Institutions in the
country. This law has four main elements. Firstly, all hate speech was banned making hate
speech or racial hatred/violence punishable by law. Secondly, discrimination in employment and
in provisions of goods (by both the public and private sector) was made a criminal offence.
Thirdly, it allows the state to ban groups spreading racist ideas. Finally, the law institutionalized
the legal role of non-governmental anti-racist associations as partners in fighting racism,
permitting them to instigate and to take part in court cases of racism as “civil parties”—an
official status that confers rights on associations-even when they have not been directly harmed.
This law continues to keep the racism and any type of racial intolerance to a bare minimum.

3. What are the future policies the French Republic hopes to implement to combat the issue?
Tackling other discrimination except for hate speech
Until very recently, the nation was extremely strict on hate speech and the number of arrests for
hate speech were extremely high. However, race-related violence arrests have been in single
digits for most of the years since the early 1970s. Recently, the nation has started to focus on
other types of racism than hate speech. The nation hopes to start tackling and penalizing
everyone going against the 1972 law.

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