For almost two weeks the streets of France have burned in the predominantly Muslim immigrant suburbs of many French towns and cities. The catalyst to such events was the electrocution of two young French men of North African descent on an electric fence as they tried to evade a police stop-and-search in a Parisian suburb. The violence has escalated night after night, spreading to an increasing number of urban centres, while the government struggled to respond. What must be absolutely clear is that these riots are not a response to an unfortunate and isolated incident. The young people involved are mostly second or third generation immigrants from ex-French colonies in North Africa, particularly Algeria. They did not force themselves on French society or choose to live in the poverty-stricken suburbs of French cities. It was the French invasion and colonisation of their homelands that began the migration process more than a century ago. They were born to immigrant parents as citizens of
"Thoughts are the greatest wealth of any nation."