4 ms·

I believe that France didn't open its borders to this wave of refugees/migrants but I could be mistaken since I don't follow the news this closely.

cm2187 11y ago
France cannot really control the wave of migrants anyway. But it is unlikely that the terrorists are one of these migrants. My guess is that they were French nationals/residents.
- AlexB138 11y ago
  >My guess is that they were French nationals/residents. Based on what? I'm pretty uninformed here, and it seems like a lot of people are bringing up refugees. Curious why you think the opposite.
  - cm2187 11y ago
    We do not know yet the identities of the terrorists, so only a guess based on the previous three years of attacks in France.
    - cm2187 11y ago
      also the TVs are mentioning terrorists speaking French, which if confirmed strongly support this guess.
  - aikah 11y ago
    What he means is french muslims , which are nationals/residents. Charlie Hebdo attackers were french nationals, though having a north african/african background.
    - cm2187 11y ago
      Almost certainly. But it does make a difference. Most French muslims come from Algeria and Marrocco and can't really claim to have been affected by the war in Syria. There are deeper roots to home grown terrorism than the Syrian conflict.
  - rihegher 11y ago
    At least they speaks french according to witnesses http://www.mediapart.fr/journal/france/131115/paris-frappe-par-des-attentats-sans-precedent http://www.mediapart.fr/journal/france/131115/paris-frappe-p...
  - apetresc 11y ago
    There were eyewitness reports that the gunmen were talking to each other in French. So, that's something. If they were recently-arrived refugees that probably wouldn't be the case, though it doesn't rule out long-term embedded groups.
jules 11y ago
What do you mean by that? The border between France and neighboring nations is always open.
- gotchange 11y ago
  It's open but that doesn't mean that everyone who shows up at the gate will be allowed in, right?
  - ino 11y ago
    there are no gates
  - darkr 11y ago
    Under normal circumstances there is no gate to speak of. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area
  - jules 11y ago
    What gates? You can walk or drive from France into Spain or Belgium or Germany and not even notice.
  - saryant 11y ago
    Have you crossed a French land border lately? There are no controls. There are no gates between France and other Schengen countries.
  - bensandcastle 11y ago
    There are no gates. There is a sign. http://travel.jeffersoncampervan.com/Pictures/PixoriginalSite/FranceBorderSign.jpg http://travel.jeffersoncampervan.com/Pictures/PixoriginalSit... Cross border travel within the EU is like moving between states in the US, easy to miss.
    - gotchange 11y ago
      What about airports? I'm very positive that they check people's passports and papers in airports.
jacquesm 11y ago
France is part of the Schengen area so there were no borders to open. The signs read 'Bienvenue en France'... https://www.flickr.com/photos/redlotusmama/4583584976 https://www.flickr.com/photos/redlotusmama/4583584976

cm2187 11y ago

France cannot really control the wave of migrants anyway. But it is unlikely that the terrorists are one of these migrants. My guess is that they were French nationals/residents.

AlexB138 11y ago
>My guess is that they were French nationals/residents. Based on what? I'm pretty uninformed here, and it seems like a lot of people are bringing up refugees. Curious why you think the opposite.
- cm2187 11y ago
  We do not know yet the identities of the terrorists, so only a guess based on the previous three years of attacks in France.
  - cm2187 11y ago
    also the TVs are mentioning terrorists speaking French, which if confirmed strongly support this guess.
- aikah 11y ago
  What he means is french muslims , which are nationals/residents. Charlie Hebdo attackers were french nationals, though having a north african/african background.
  - cm2187 11y ago
    Almost certainly. But it does make a difference. Most French muslims come from Algeria and Marrocco and can't really claim to have been affected by the war in Syria. There are deeper roots to home grown terrorism than the Syrian conflict.
- rihegher 11y ago
  At least they speaks french according to witnesses http://www.mediapart.fr/journal/france/131115/paris-frappe-par-des-attentats-sans-precedent http://www.mediapart.fr/journal/france/131115/paris-frappe-p...
- apetresc 11y ago
  There were eyewitness reports that the gunmen were talking to each other in French. So, that's something. If they were recently-arrived refugees that probably wouldn't be the case, though it doesn't rule out long-term embedded groups.

jules 11y ago

What do you mean by that? The border between France and neighboring nations is always open.

gotchange 11y ago
It's open but that doesn't mean that everyone who shows up at the gate will be allowed in, right?
- ino 11y ago
  there are no gates
- darkr 11y ago
  Under normal circumstances there is no gate to speak of. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area
- jules 11y ago
  What gates? You can walk or drive from France into Spain or Belgium or Germany and not even notice.
- saryant 11y ago
  Have you crossed a French land border lately? There are no controls. There are no gates between France and other Schengen countries.
- bensandcastle 11y ago
  There are no gates. There is a sign. http://travel.jeffersoncampervan.com/Pictures/PixoriginalSite/FranceBorderSign.jpg http://travel.jeffersoncampervan.com/Pictures/PixoriginalSit... Cross border travel within the EU is like moving between states in the US, easy to miss.
  - gotchange 11y ago
    What about airports? I'm very positive that they check people's passports and papers in airports.

jacquesm 11y ago

France is part of the Schengen area so there were no borders to open. The signs read 'Bienvenue en France'... https://www.flickr.com/photos/redlotusmama/4583584976 https://www.flickr.com/photos/redlotusmama/4583584976