Thread: Sarkozy orders illegal Roma immigrants expelled

Sarkozy orders illegal Roma immigrants expelled
Buzz up!68 votes .. AP – A member of a Romany association, Alice Januel, displays an official document which authorizes French …
. Slideshow:The Roma, Gypsies .
By JENNY BARCHFIELD and CECILE ROUX, Associated Press Writers Jenny Barchfield And Cecile Roux, Associated Press Writers – 1 hr 35 mins ago
SAINT OUEN, France – French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday ordered authorities to expel Gypsy illegal immigrants and dismantle their camps, amid accusations that his government is acting racist in its treatment of the group known as Roma.

Sarkozy called a government meeting Wednesday after Gypsies clashed with police this month following the shooting death of a youth fleeing officers in the Loire Valley.

Sarkozy said those responsible for the clashes would be "severely punished" and ordered the government to expel all illegal Roma immigrants, almost all of whom have come from eastern Europe.

He pushed for a change in France's immigration law to make such expulsion easier "for reasons of public order." He said illegal Gypsy camps "will be systematically evacuated," calling them sources of trafficking, exploitation of children and prostitution.

The language has chilling undertones in a country where authorities rounded up Gypsies and sent them to concentration camps during the Nazi occupation in World War II. Former President Jacques Chirac, the first French leader to acknowledge the state's role in the Holocaust, condemned "the Nazi madness that wanted to eliminate the Gypsies."

Around Europe, some 250,000 to 1.5 million Roma were killed during World War II. Accurate figures are difficult to find, because so many Roma were rounded up away from public view, executed and dumped into mass graves.

French Roma representatives were not invited to Wednesday's presidential meeting, and said they are the only ethnic group that French authorities can openly target.

Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux insisted that Wednesday's measures "are not meant to stigmatize any community, regardless of who they are, but at to punish illegal behavior."

Romania and Bulgaria are members of the European Union, and their citizens can enter France without a visa, but they must get work permits to work here or residency permits to settle long term.

Community leaders contend the very principle of the meeting — which singled out an ethnic group in a country that is officially blind to ethnic origins — is racist and warn of grave consequences if their side isn't heard. France's government does not count how many of its citizens are of a certain ethnicity; everyone is simply considered French.

"Today ... I am afraid we're preparing to open a blighted page in the history of France, which could sadly lead to acts of reprisal in the days ahead," said lawyer Henri Braun said at a Wednesday news conference by French Roma leaders. "There is a huge problem of racism in France towards this population, there is enormous discrimination."

France's relationship with what it calls Gypsies is complex and complicated by divisions among the disparate populations.

One, formally given the administrative label of "traveling folk," includes several hundred thousand French citizens who have lived in France for centuries, and were traditionally nomadic but have become increasingly sedentary in recent years.

The other main Gypsy population is made up of recent immigrants who come mostly from Eastern European countries like Romania and Bulgaria, usually illegally, and are often seen begging on the streets of French cities.

Those in the more established communities say they are being unfairly lumped together with illegal new immigrants. Sarkozy's orders Wednesday targeted Roma, though the violence in Saint-Aignan earlier this month was in a community of traveling folk established in the region for years.

Alice Januel, whose organization represents Catholics among French Gypsies, warned that "If Mr. Sarkozy thinks that by clamping down he is going to calm the youth, I don't think that he will succeed. We have a youth that is rebellious."

Sarkozy also proposed that France bring in about 20 Romanian and Bulgarian police to work in the Paris region and send French police to Romania and Bulgaria, to help fight trafficking and other crime by Roma.

__

Associated Press writer Cecile Brisson in Paris contributed to this report.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100728/ap_ ... /s18156986

Who ever thought that France, that has been maligned for years as being wimpy, has a bigger "set" than the U.S of A.
What have we become?

Originally Posted by Newmexican

Who ever thought that France, that has been maligned for years as being wimpy, has a bigger "set" than the U.S of A.
What have we become?

What if we found that a year after the Korean war had reached its truce a South Korean naval ship had been sunk by the north. What would of happened then? We know what would have happened.

Interesting. The Roma have always been in the Loire valley for centuries I think - I guess not just in those numbers. I myself have encountered the Roma along the Loire, especially in the traditional cities towns like Tours I think.

The last time I encountered Gypsies was in Prague and one was trying to shake a paper in my face so the others could pick my pockets.

Yes another huge problem. Some Roma have assimilated, hold jobs, are responsble members of the community but others still rely on thievery to survive. Just as with many marginalized groups they must admit and deal with those segments of their own who practice crimes against the rest of society. There are many Roma in the US and the Southwest US. Many still live the ancient way. They may live in a house instead of a caravan but they still thrive on stealing and other ways of ripping people off. Their children do not go to school - it's amazing how they live amongst us and yet are not part of our society and manage to evade our laws - everything. They have a way to "qualify" their marks and it is all tied up in their religion and total way of thought. Very intriguing but still criminal. Wonder how many are legitimized enough to receive welfare and food stamps etc.

There is good reason to not want them around.

I've encountered Roma/"gypsies" in Prague and also in SoCal. In my experience they are either begging or trying to pick your pocket or both.

There are many Roma around the planet who are pleading for their civil rights and fair treatment and decry the prejudice as unfounded in fact. I suppose there are liberals who also support them, having never been ripped off by them. Many Roma also refuse to assimilate and there are many more than what you see who have assimilated externally.

I've never even heard of these people, but I can tell you I don't want them in my country and I don't want a thing to do with them. Stealing seems to be a culture with them.

France begins clearing Gypsy encampments
Published: Aug. 7, 2010 at 6:34 PM

PARIS, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- France says it has begun dismantling illegal Gypsy camps following an order by the country's president for hundreds of the camps to be removed.

About 100 members of a Roma, or Gypsy, community were removed from makeshift shelters and tents in the central French city of Saint-Etienne where they had been living since May, the BBC reported.

Last week, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced plans to close 300 illegal camps in the next three months.

Members of the Roma community who committed public order offenses would be deported immediately, he said.

Sarkozy's order came after an attack last month on a police station in the Loire Valley town of Saint-Aignon by a group of young Roma, the BBC said.

The government says it cannot "tolerate" the camps, calling them "sources of illegal trafficking, of profoundly shocking living standards, of exploitation of children for begging, of prostitution and crime."

Human-rights groups have condemned the actions, saying they deliberately stigmatize a generally law-abiding group to win support from right-wing voters.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Internation ... 281220480/