ABSTRACT
Moroccan-origin and other North-African, or Turkish-origin people living in Europe are perceived by the majority societies and states in Europe – in the West and in the East – as migrants, as if they have just arrived in the European countries. However, many were born in Europe, and their parents arrived in or were brought to the “Old continent” shortly after the Second World War. Many have been keeping European nationalities for decades. Hence, an overwhelming majority of those migrant-origin people are European citizens, especially in France, where dual citizenship is more accessible than in some other European states such as Germany or Netherlands. Similarly, some of those listed as radicalised are “ethnic Europeans” who have changed their religion. From this perspective, the linking of the phenomenon of radicalisation to young Muslims or Islam appears to be the refusal of migration. This argument added to the old one consists of accusing migrants of “stealing the jobs” of nationals or even, more recently, and more expressly, that of the “Great replacement”. Developed over the past few years, the Grand Replacement Theory assumes that “the French people and, more generally, Westerners are being replaced by other peoples, mainly from the Arab-Muslim world.
