Are France’s No-Go Zones Real?

Coordinated Terror Attacks on French Prisons

On April 15th, 2025, a wave of coordinated terrorist attacks was launched against multiple French prisons by the migrant-heavy gangs that dominate the country's criminal underworld. These assaults came in direct response to the French government’s recent crackdown on illegal narcotics.

France’s Justice Minister, Gérald Darmanin, confirmed that “at least six prisons around the country were [targeted by] acts of terrorism” and declared that “The Republic will not back down” from confronting the “extremely serious crimes.”

This was not a random eruption of violence or senseless criminality. Rather, it marked the latest and most brazen manifestation of a deeper crisis, one rooted in years of insecurity, unchecked extremism, and failed migration policy.

Destabilization Through Migration Policies

For years, France has been plagued by deepening insecurity and growing instability - driven, in large part, by the European Union’s hyper-liberal migration policies. These policies have allowed a flood of individuals to enter the country under the guise of asylum-seeking, with many bringing extremism and criminality in their wake.

Foreign nationals have had a profoundly destabilizing effect on French society, particularly in the realm of violent crime. In 2023, they were responsible for 77% of all rapes in Paris alone. Tragically, these acts of brutality have not been confined to adults - children, too, have suffered.

The data on urban violence tells a similarly grim story. In cities like Paris, foreign nationals have accounted for 70% of all violent robberies and over 75% of thefts despite making up just 15–20% of the population.

Even President Emmanuel Macron has publicly acknowledged the scale of the problem, admitting: “If we look at crime in Paris today, we cannot fail to see that at least half of the crime comes from people who are foreigners.”

The Rise of Islamic Terrorism in France

Moreover, migrants have reintroduced and entrenched a brutal strain of Islamic terrorism within French society. Over the past decade, France has endured 53 major terrorist attacks, with nearly 30 innocent people murdered by Islamic extremists each year. In 2023 alone, an astonishing 66% of all terrorist attacks in the EU occurred on French soil. That summer, over 240 police stations were violently assaulted, and more than 700 police officers were attacked - many by individuals linked to extremist ideologies.

France today is home to a range of radical Islamic organizations, including al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (ISIS), both officially designated as terrorist groups by the United Nations, the EU, and the French government. These groups openly operate within French borders and remain committed to destabilizing the country through jihad and coordinated campaigns of terror.

The 2015 ‘Charlie Hebdo Massacre’ remains one of the most chilling examples. Two Islamist gunmen - migrants affiliated with al-Qaeda - stormed the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, murdering 12 people in a brutal attempt to silence free speech over the publication’s depiction of the Prophet Muhammad. Likewise, in Nice, a migrant terrorist drove a truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day, killing 86 and injuring 434 others - an attack designed to intimidate and erode France’s liberal democratic identity.

No-Go Zones and Parallel Societies

Finally, there are entrenched violent Islamic enclaves - so-called “no-go zones” - throughout major French cities, where the state’s authority has all but collapsed. In Paris, for example, police officers have admitted they are unable to enter certain neighborhoods without being attacked by hostile migrant groups. In the “lost territories” of Marseille, law enforcement must sometimes disguise themselves as Muslims.

Across the country, historic cities like Marseille, Paris, and Roubaix have seen entire districts fall under the de facto control of radical Islamist factions. These neighborhoods have become breeding grounds for extremism, rife with violence, lawlessness, and hostility toward the French state.

Even France’s General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI) has acknowledged that 150 districts are now “in possession of the Islamists,” and Alain Chouet, former chief of France’s Security Intelligence Service, has warned that such enclaves exist in 859 cities and are home to approximately 4 million people, roughly 6% of France’s population. The national police union, Alternative Police CFDT, has corroborated this, stating plainly: “There are no-go zones in France where the police cannot intervene safely… The police can’t apply the law in these areas. They are attacked.”

France Must Choose Survival

Sadly, it is undeniable that the recent terrorist attack on France’s prisons and justice system is not an isolated incident or a random eruption of violence. Over the course of the modern era, France has become increasingly unstable and insecure, largely due to the European Union's overly permissive migration policies. These policies have allowed countless extremists and criminals to enter France under the guise of seeking asylum. Until the French government takes decisive action to reject the EU’s flawed migration framework and expel the hostile migrants and Islamic extremists residing within its borders, the threat of violence and instability will persist, steadily eroding the fabric of French society.

William Barclay

William Barclay is a political theorist and private consultant, as well as a Contributor for Young Voices.

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