France Steps Up Roma Deportation Despite E.U. Criticism

[Lightning Count]

Source: TIME

France's expulsion campaign of Roma has drawn a deluge of criticism at home and abroad, and even opened up fissures within the government and ruling conservative majority. Yet President Nicolas Sarkozy and his closest lieutenants are striking an increasingly defiant tone in response to the outcry. Cabinet members now want to expand the list of infractions for which the Roma Gypsy minority can be forcibly expelled from France - and are busy placing blame on Romania as the ultimate cause of the controversy engulfing Paris.

On Tuesday, French Secretary of State for European Affairs Pierre Lellouche and Immigration and Integration Minister Eric Besson traveled to Brussels to defend France's high-profile campaign of dismantling itinerants' camps and expelling the Roma living in France without residence permits. They met with European Union commissioners who have expressed concerns that those efforts may violate human-rights statutes guaranteeing the freedom of movement of E.U. citizens - a status conferred on all Romanians and Bulgarians during the E.U.'s 2007 enlargement. France's defiant attitude became apparent when Lellouche shifted the blame for its Roma predicament to Romania. Although Bucharest receives $5 billion in annual E.U. subsidies, Lellouche's argument goes, it spends only 0.4% of that on integrating the nation's Roma minority (a population officially pegged at 535,000 but which some experts believe exceeds 2 million). He has suggested postponing eventual Romania and Bulgaria membership to the passport-free Schengen area if both nations don't improve their efforts to integrate Roma and more effectively monitor Roma migration elsewhere in the E.U. (See pictures of France cracking down on migrants.)
During the Brussels talks, Besson refuted allegations previously aired by E.U. critics that France's campaign was racially discriminatory in targeting a single minority: Roma. He also dismissed claims that Paris was conducting systematic deportation, noting that the authorities assessed the case of each detained Roma individually. And he maintained that most deportees left "voluntarily": the majority accepted cash payments ($386 per adult, $129 per child) not to fight obligatory expulsion. It's unclear whether that defense allayed the apprehensions of E.U. officials. (more)

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100902/wl_time/08599201538900

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Considering that this action has close to 70% support, I don't think the French care much what the rest of the world thinks.

[Catherina]

1. It's a shameful day for France. I suggest Sarkozy return to Hungary.

Beautiful Roma girls





Sarko, retourne en Hongrois toi-même sal enculé!

[Lightning Count]

2. Does their physical appearance matter that much?

[Lucky Luciano]

3. Nazi types typically try to dehumanize the people they oppress

by using propaganda to make the masses think the unwanted oppressed are ugly..or they smell etc. Ie perpetuating an idea that creates false stereotypes...so a picture of "pretty Roma girls" attempts to dispel such myths.

[provis99]

4. deport the Hungarians from France. good bye, Sarkozy.