Renaud Camus, a French novelist and writer, has been barred from speaking about immigration in the United Kingdom later this month, according to The Telegraph.
A philosopher opposed to mass migration has been banned from entering Britain after the Home Office ruled his presence would go against “the public good”.
The 78-year-old author has warned that unchecked immigration will lead to demographic “replacement” of Europe’s indigenous populations. The philosopher’s Twitter account was also suspended briefly earlier.
The Home Office informed Camus via email that he had been denied the electronic travel authorisation (ETA) required to enter the UK. It is understood that Camus was to deliver a speech at an event organised by the nationalist and anti-immigration Homeland Party. Camus, who is gay and has advocated for nonviolence, told The Telegraph that “of all the European governments guilty” of allowing unchecked migration, “the British government is one of the most guilty.”
The Theory Itself
Renaud Camus, who claims immigration will lead to ‘replacement’ of Europe’s indigenous people. The theories that author Renaud Camus has written about have travelled far. In his 2011 book “Le Grand Remplacement,” he coined the term “the great replacement,” which has since become a rallying cry for the far right worldwide.
The great replacement theory, which is based on racist nationalist beliefs, claims that an elitist group is conspiring against white French and Europeans in order to eventually replace them with non-Europeans from Africa and the Middle East, the majority of whom are Muslims. Renaud Camus often refers to this as “genocide by substitution”.
Notions of the theory date as far back as 1900, when the father of French nationalism Maurice Barrès spoke of a new population that would dominate, triumph, and “ruin our homeland.” In an article for daily newspaper Le Journal, he wrote: “The name of France might well survive; the special character of our country would, however, be destroyed, and the people settled in our name and on our territory would be heading towards destinies contradictory to the destinies and needs of our land and our dead.” After World War II, the French far right needed a new discourse to move back into the mainstream. In the 1970s and 1980s, the replacement theory gained traction as biological racism gave way to cultural racism. Over time, these ideas spread among the far right, which was becoming more mainstream in France, allowing Camus to publish his book on the subject without being labeled as too radical. To avoid the racism bullet, Camus claimed in an interview with the French right-wing TV channel CNews that his theory was about defending civilization rather than race.
Éric Zemmour à propos du Grand remplacement : «Jusqu’à présent, on ne savait pas ce qu’Emmanuel Macron en pensait, maintenant, on sait qu’il l’accepte, il l’aime et il veut l’organiser», dans #HDPros pic.twitter.com/LhTiDV3dEv
— CNEWS (@CNEWS) September 22, 2022
In 2021, Camus also sided with Eric Zemmour, a far-right politician who is expected to announce his candidacy for the upcoming French presidential elections. In fact, Zemmour has long been inspired by Camus and has propagated the replacement theory in his own books, “Le Suicide Français” (The French Suicide) and “Destin Français (French Destiny).
Growing Debate Over Free Speech
One of the party’s policies is the re-migration, or encouraged mass emigration, of unintegrated and illegal immigrants. Camus has been labeled a conspiracy theorist for believing that mass immigration will result in the replacement of settled populations. The denial of his ETA comes amid a heated debate in the UK over free speech, particularly on immigration. Some argue that online misinformation fueled the summer riots in 2024 following the Southport murders.
The British government has promised to crack down on people who promote “harmful and hateful beliefs.