A French Parliament sitting has been adjourned after a Black lawmaker was asked by another to “return to Africa.”
NUPES MP Carlos Martens Bilongo was up standing to make a submission when he was screamed at by an unnamed colleague who is rumored to be from the far-right group.
The comment prompted a clearly stunned Bilongo, a member of the left-leaning France Insoumise party, and others on his side of the House to fiercely object.
Subsequently, a leader of the Parliament demanded which particular MP had uttered the phrase, but no one owned up as the far-right bloc started shouting.
The session was temporarily suspended.
Sickening and worrying. A French far-right MP yelled at NUPES MP Carlos Martens Bilongo to “return to Africa”. The Assembly was shocked. The session was suspended. pic.twitter.com/xh9DnlcyLF
— Rim-Sarah Alouane (@RimSarah) November 3, 2022
Speaking outside Parliament after the incident, Bilongo expressed grave reservations at the comment and described it as a “shame,” and something he never in his life thought would be raised in Parliament.
Bilongo is a Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee who was born on December 31, 1990 in Paris, he is the MP for Val-d’Oise (8th district).
The lawmaker is a 31-year-old from a Congolese background.