French press review 14 March 2015

The large scale poaching of elephants on Gabon’s borders with Cameroon and Congo over the last 10 years and the distressing living conditions of hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees who have fled to Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey are some of the topics covered in today’s French newspapers.

We start with a rare inside picture of an ongoing war in Gabon against poaching and ivory looting.

Le Monde reports 12,000 elephants have been decimated on Gabon’s borders with Cameroon and Congo over the last 10 years.

The journal makes a disturbing revelation. Asian Mafiosi and Jihadists benefitting from the illegal trade are forcing primitive ethnic pygmies residing in the forests to hunt down the elephants for them.

Le Monde has also been investigating the humanitarian catastrophe taking place in Syria as aid workers remain trapped on the multiple fronts of the 4-year war in the Middle East.

It reports that UN agencies are facing mounting obstacles to reach some 4.8 million people trapped in the fighting.

Le Monde says relief NGOs have been forced to abandon operations in zones held by the Islamic State armed group, following attempts by the regime in Damascus to use them as self promotion tools.

The Catholic daily La Croix consecrates its front page to the pitiful living conditions of hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees who have fled to Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.

Some speak to La Croix about how their children are readjusting to their new lives in makeshift camps. Others tell the paper they are being forced to sign commitments that they will not apply for work as a precondition to get their residence permits renewed.

Right-wing Le Figaro is excited about the call to arms coming from the medical sector as the French Unions call on doctors and nurses to go on strike against French health reform plans.

The paper reports that some 15,000 medics are expected to march in Paris on Sunday against the so-called Touraine law named after French Health Minister Marisol Touraine which seeks to introduce mandatory third party health insurance for all by 2017. Le Figaro is at least honest to underline a paradox of French perceptions of the emblematic reform.

It published the findings of a new survey by the Odoxa polling agency for France Inter, Le Figaro and the MNH, the health Workers Insurance Fund showing that 60% of the French support the scheme as socially just, while 55 percent also back the doctor’s strike action – especially their fears that it will increase the work burden of health practitioners and distract patients from keeping track of health costs.

An irony emerging from the survey is that only a tiny 11 percent of people polled admit having a clear idea of what the health reform is all about.

Now if you resort to a little bit of spanking from time to time in the upbringing of your children, then you’d be pleased to learn that you are not alone.

Le Figaro publishes another study this Saturday showing that a massive 7 out of 10 French parents support corporal punishment. Surprisingly, only 33 percent of French women favour a ban.

The debate was triggered by last week’s European Council directive rebuking France for not following the foot steps of her neighbours to ban the use of smacking in the education of children.

And Libération salutes the world's first successful penis transplant by South African doctors.

According to the left-leaning newspaper, the 21-year-old patient had his penis amputated three years ago after a botched circumcision at a traditional initiation ceremony. Libé says it took doctors at the Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town, nine-hours to transplant the new penis from a deceased donor.