French far-right MP faces 15-day suspension for yelling 'back to Africa' in parliament

Following a confrontation in which a far-right MP yelled "back to Africa" at a black colleague that sparked outrage across the political spectrum, the French National Assembly agreed Friday to punish him with an unusual 15-day suspension and salary cut.

Gregoire de Fournas, a recently elected National Rally member, has disputed that the outburst was a personal racial assault and has stated that he was making reference to a ship in the Mediterranean delivering rescued migrants.

Under its norms, which in general defend MPs' right to free expression while in session, the National Assembly's lower house has recommended the heaviest penalty imaginable.

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Only twice in the history of Charles de Gaulle's Fifth Republic in France, which began in 1958, did an MP get such a censure.

The event occurred at a time when immigration tensions are at an all-time high and President Emmanuel Macron's administration has promised a new crackdown amid claims that it has failed to stop new arrivals or deport those whose residence applications have been denied.

Carlos Martens Bilongo of the left-leaning France Unbowed party (LFI) grilled the administration on Thursday on the SOS Mediterranee NGO's request for assistance in finding a port for the ship that recently saved 234 migrants at sea.

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"It should go back to Africa!" interrupted de Fournas, a winegrower from the southwestern Gironde department, drawing gasps of shock from many in parliament.

The pronouns "it" and "he" have the same pronunciation in French, which led some to believe that de Fournas was specifically targeting Bilongo.

"Racism, no matter its target, is a negation of the republican values that unite us in this assembly," its president Yael Braun-Pivet said after the vote.

(with inputs from agencies)