New French interior minister says priority to 'restore order'

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00:00For his first official outing as Interior Minister, Bruno Routailleau said he wanted

00:05to show support to police officers.

00:08Visiting a station in the French capital's northern suburbs, Routailleau reiterated one

00:13of his priorities, reducing immigration.

00:16In his own words, naturalise as little as possible, but deport as much as possible.

00:22The people of Europe want firmness.

00:24They want us to get this migration mess under control.

00:27When you take a certain number of criteria, social aid, access to health care, accommodation,

00:32asylum, France is very often one of the most attractive European countries.

00:36My goal is for our country to be in line with the European average, so it doesn't stand

00:40out when it comes to people traffickers.

00:45To reduce immigration in France, the new minister is considering a number of actions, including

00:50reforming state medical assistance, which guarantees free medical and hospital care

00:55to irregular migrants who've been in the country at least three months.

00:59Routailleau also wants to reinstate the offence of illegal residents abolished in 2012, as

01:05well as reverse certain agreements with Algeria.

01:08The minister says he's in favour of revoking a 1968 agreement that gives special status

01:13to Algerians in terms of movement, residence and employment in France, however the treaty

01:19is governed by international law, not French law.

01:22Routailleau's appointment and his initial statements have triggered an outcry from the

01:27left.

01:28One politician has even accused him of racism for past comments.

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