Excerpt:
The man tasked by French President Emmanuel Macron with coming up with a battle plan for the country’s most deprived areas called Thursday for a “radical change” in approach in high-immigration suburbs.
During campaigning, Macron vowed to tackle what he termed the “house arrest” of many young people who find it hard to escape the poverty, unemployment and crime that blight many suburban areas of French cities.
He promised to invest more in basic services, promote entrepreneurship as a fast-track to success and crack down on employers who push applications from people with Arab- or African-sounding names to the bottom of the pile.
Former centrist minister Jean-Louis Borloo was asked to devise a blueprint, which has been keenly awaited by campaigners who accuse Macron of having overlooked the plight of the poor in his first 12 months in office.