France will no longer accept new “seconded” imams, that is to say sent by other countries, from January 1, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Friday in a letter to the countries concerned by the subject. After April 1, 2024, seconded imams still present in the territory will not be able to remain there “under this status”, he adds in this letter.
Around 300 Imams seconded to France from various countries
At the beginning of 2020, Emmanuel Macron announced his desire to end the reception of some 300 imams sent by various countries (Algeria, Turkey, Morocco, etc.), and to increase at the same time the number of imams trained in France. “We are working on the end of seconded imams in 2024,” said the then Minister of the Interior, Christophe Castaner.
Recalling this three-year “notice”, to give mosques and States time to organize themselves, Gérald Darmanin insisted on the calendar on Friday: the decision “will effectively apply from January 1, 2024”. This means in concrete terms that from this date France “will no longer accept new seconded imams”.
As for those who are already there, they will have to change their status: from April 1, a “specific framework” will be put in place to allow associations managing places of worship to recruit imams themselves, that they will pay directly. The goal is not to prevent foreign imams from preaching in France, but to ensure that none are paid by a foreign state of which they are a civil servant or public agent.
On the other hand, the arrival of “Ramadan imams”, these approximately 300 chanters and reciters who go to France during the blessed month for Muslims, is “not called into question”, according to this missive. At the same time, emphasis is placed on the need for a “growing portion” of imams officiating in the territory to be, “at least partially, trained in France”.
Training imams in France
This requires developing training and the State wants to be “attentive” to ensuring that an offer “respectful of the laws and principles of the Republic” is quickly expanded. Beyond religious training, it is also about supporting imams’ access to university training, such as those launched in 2023 by the French Institute of Islamology for example.
Determined to fight against “Islamist separatism”, Emmanuel Macron announced in February 2020 a series of measures against “foreign influences” on Islam in France, ranging from seconded imams to the financing of mosques.