Nearly half of Muslims would consider leaving France if Marine Le Pen wins election, survey finds

Nearly half of Muslims living in France would consider leaving the country should Marine Le Pen win next year's presidential election, a survey found. 

Ms Le Pen, who is the leader of hard-Right party National Rally, is the front-runner in the polls for the 2027 presidency. 

The Ifop survey found 46 per cent of Muslim respondents would contemplate emigration under a Ms Le Pen presidency, with 20 per cent saying they would 'certainly' leave France.

The poll also found widespread concern about the impact of a Ms Le Pen victory, with 81 per cent believing it would lead to increased aggression and discrimination against Muslims.

More than a quarter (27 per cent) said they would even consider concealing their religious identity, according to local news outlet Marianne.  

Ms Le Pen has faced significant backlash over proposals to combat 'Islamist ideologies' in France should she take office.

This included making it a fineable offence to wear a hijab - or what she calls the 'Islamist veil' - in public.

'I will submit to the French people, by referendum, a bill to combat Islamist ideologies  with numerous powerful measures, including the banning of the Islamist headscarf in public places,' the candidate wrote on X last month.

National Rally party leader Marine Le Pen arrived for the New Year's speech to the media in Paris in January 2024

Ms Le Pen, 58, has pledged to ban head coverings by Muslim women in public since 2012, the first of her three unsuccessful presidential campaigns. 

But she had previously shelved the plans in 2022 in an attempt to take a step away from the hard-Right image as she battled the current president Emmanuel Macron. 

France became the first European country to ban full-face coverings in public spaces in 2011, with violations resulting in a fine or mandatory civic education. 

The French government argued that face coverings stopped people from being clearly identified, posed potential security threats and prevented social interaction. 

It was followed by numerous other European countries, including Portugal - which banned or restricted burqas and other full-face veils in public last month.

The move appears broadly in line with public sentiment in France, according to the report.

The study, which surveyed 9,689 adults, found a significant majority of respondents favoured restrictions on Islamic dress and other religious symbols in public places. 

Some 53 per cent said they opposed women wearing a hijab in the street, while some 75 per cent backed the ban on the abaya in state secondary schools.

File image shows a woman wearing a headscarf in public in Nantes

Girls were banned from wearing the abaya, a long dress worn by some Muslim women, in state schools in 2023 over the argument it violated the French principle of secularism. 

The ban was strongly supported by Mr Macron and stirred a political row over France's secularism rules and whether they discriminated against the country's Muslim minority - around 10 per cent of the population.

Meanwhile, the study found 72 per cent of those surveyed supported a ban on conspicuous religious symbols at sporting events. 

François Kraus, director of the Politics and Current Affairs unit at Ifop, said that Ms Le Pen's victory 'risks generating significant blockages and produces high levels of fear and a sense of insecurity'. 

Ms Le Pen has consistently led first-round voting intention surveys for the election on April 18, 2027, typically polling between 30 and 35 per cent.  

Jean-Luc Mélenchon of La France Insoumise and former prime minister Édouard Philippe have alternated in second place, polling between 14 and 19 per cent. 

Ms Le Pen recently stirred tension after accusing Europe of waging a war over energy with Russia and vowed to stop funding Ukraine should she win the presidency.

She pledged to stop financial aid for Kyiv within six months, saying France can no longer afford it. 

And claimed the 'honest thing' the EU should do would be to tell Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky it 'can't manage' to financially support his cause any more.

The Eurosceptic party leader has long opposed Ukraine's membership of the EU and has criticised EU sanctions against Russia, claiming it has allowed an 'energy war' to form between the two powers.

Ms Le Pen accused the EU of idiocy over its stance against the Kremlin, telling the Financial Times: 'We the EU have led an energy war against Russia, when we haven't got any energy. It is not very smart.' 

READ MORE: Marine Le Pen says she would stop aid to Ukraine within six months of being elected and criticises Europe's 'energy war' with Putin as polls put her ahead in French presidential race