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Racist incident causes outrage in French parliament after far-right MP yells 'Go back to Africa' to Black lawmaker

A racist incident has caused outrage in the French parliament in Paris. The session was broken off on Thursday afternoon after an interjection by a deputy from the far-right nationalist National Rally and adjourned until Friday. Parliamentarians from other groups demanded harsh sanctions against Member of Parliament (MP) Grégoire de Fournas.

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The comment created a huge commotion. The centrist government and left-wing alliance said it was an unacceptable racist slur. The far right argued MP Gregoire de Fournas was not aiming the words at the MP who asked the question, Carlos Martens Bilongo, but at migrants stranded on an NGO boat. "There is no room for racism in our democracy. The Bureau of the National Assembly will convene (on Friday) and should decide on necessary sanction," Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne told reporters after the incident.