EU threatens France with legal action over Roma 'disgrace' (Canadian MP also aims to 'shame' France)

[Turborama]

Source: AFP

BRUSSELS — Europe threatened legal action against France on Tuesday over its crackdown on Roma minorities, drawing a parallel between their treatment and World War II-era deportations.

The European Union's top justice official, Viviane Reding, angrily rebuked the French government for sending hundreds of Roma migrants back to Romania and Bulgaria since August in a security sweep ordered by President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Reding said she was "appalled by a situation which gave the impression that people are being removed from a member state of the European Union just because they belong to a certain ethnic minority. This is a situation I had thought Europe would not have to witness again after the Second World War," she underlined, warning of looming infringement proceedings by the European Commission.

Reding chided Paris after a leaked memo "openly contradicted" assurances given by two ministers to the commission that specific ethnic groups had not been targeted in France. The August 5 memo, signed by the interior minister's chief of staff and sent to police chiefs, states that "300 camps or illegal settlements must be cleared within three months, Roma camps are a priority."

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h_UPDm0jCWOkVWHfWofcLNdKx7eg

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Canadian MP aims to 'shame' France over Roma

Dosanjh says leaked memo proves expulsions illegal

By Peter O'Neil, Postmedia News September 14, 2010

A Canadian politician embarking on a mission to Europe to "shame" the French government over its expulsion of Roma migrants said Monday that the release of an internal document is "smoking-gun" evidence the action is illegal.

A leaked Aug. 5 note signed by French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux's chief of staff called on police to clear 300 camps within three months, and that "Roma camps are a priority."

The French government has always denied it is targeting a specific ethnic group, which would violate European Union law. Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh said it is "smoking-gun" evidence to the contrary.

"This document proves France is engaged in a premeditated attack by expelling the Roma en masse," said Dosanjh, a former federal health minister and ex-B.C. premier.

Full article: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Canadian+aims+shame+France+over+Roma/3520624/story.html

[provis99]

1. if the Roma were in any of their countries, they would deport them too.

Hypocrites.

[Turborama]

2. Speculative nonsense.

Romanis are all over Europe and they are not being deported.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romani_people

[pampango]

4. And it's against EU law to deport based on ethnicity rather than an individual's actions.

Not that that will stand in Sarkozy's desire to pander to right wing voters and distract from the ongoing debate about pension reform that his conservative government is trying to push through.

[Turborama]

3. Picking on Gypsies & a religious minority, sound familiar? 75 years ago today there were laws passed

In Germany: http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/triumph/tr-nurem-laws.htm


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4539896">French Senate passes ban of full Muslim veils