French Roma expulsion

The French Roma repatriation is a programme initiated in July 2010 by the Government of France to repatriate thousands of Romanian and Bulgarian Roma as part of a crackdown on illegal camps in the country. Although Bulgarian and Romanian citizens have the right to enter France without a visa, due to their countries of origin being in the European Union, under French immigration rules they must have work or residency permits if they wish to stay longer than three months.

In 2009, France deported 10,000 Roma back to Romania and Bulgaria. The next year at least another 8,300 Roma were deported until August.

Since July 2010, at least 51 illegal Romani camps have been demolished, and France has repatriated at least 1,230 Roma to their countries of origin.

The policy has proved controversial in the European Union, with EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding stating in a September briefing that the European Commission may take legal action against the French government over the forced deportations, calling them "a disgrace". The subsequent row over the comments was widely reported to have overshadowed an EU summit in September 2010.

Background

On July 16, French police shot and killed a 22-year-old French Romani man who fled a police check-point by driving through it in a BMW car. In retaliation, a group later identified as 'travellers' ("Gens du voyage") attacked and pillaged the village of Saint-Aignan in central France. The local mayor described the disturbances as "a settling of scores between the travellers and the gendarmerie". On the same night and for a few nights thereafter, riots erupted in a Grenoble neighborhood after pursuing French police, having been shot at on three occasions during the chase, in turn shot and killed Karim Boudouda, a 27-year-old resident involved in a robbery at the Uriage-les-Bains casino near the border with Switzerland.

On 30 July, the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, made a speech in Grenoble concerning the recent events, both there and at Saint-Aignan. He criticized demonstrations against the police that occurred in both cases after perpetrators were killed while committing criminal acts and wantonly endangering police officers' lives, and in this context he was reported as saying that 'he had asked the interior minister to "put an end to the wild squatting and camping of the Roma" as well as to prevent further destruction by the rioters in Grenoble. As president, he said, (he) could not accept the fact that there were 539 illegal Romani camps in his country, and he promised that half of them would be gone within three months.

The office of the President stated that local unauthorised camps were "sources of illegal trafficking, of profoundly shocking living standards, of exploitation of children for begging, of prostitution and crime". Der Spiegel deemed this to come amidst efforts by the President's allies aimed at "keeping the issue of domestic security high on the political agenda."

Since July 2010, at least 51 Romani camps have been demolished, and France has deported at least 1,230 non-French Roma (conflating those French Roma involved in disturbances at Saint-Aignan, with Bulgarian and Romanian citizens being deported for otherwise unrelated alleged visa irregularities) providing financial incentives and travel back to Romania and Bulgaria. Bulgarian and Romanian citizens have the right to enter France without a visa, due to their countries of origin being in the European Union. Under French rules, like all legal immigrants, they must have work or residency permits if they wish to stay longer than three months.

The French government claimed it was expelling people on legal rather than ethnic grounds. This "openly contradicted by an administrative circular issue by the same government" mentioning the illegal Romani camps specifically ("en priorité ceux des Roms"). This mention could be explained by the fact that Roma account for the overwhelming majority of foreign migrants setting up camps in France, and that "most Roma from the two countries [Bulgaria and Romania] are thought to be in France illegally". The then French President Nicolas Sarkozy stated that his government had been unaware of the directive in question signed by Mr Michel Bart, the Chief of Staff of the French Minister of the Interior, and that the directive had been canceled as soon as the government became aware of it through press reports. He stated that France continues to welcome refugees and that "we refuse the creation of slums... that are unworthy of French Republic or European ideals." President Sarkozy also stated that 80% of people removed from the camps during August 2010 were of French "gens du voyage", i.e. most of the campers thus removed where not foreign citizens or Roma; and that all removals were done based on judicial decisions, i.e. they were not unilateral police operations as would be based on a circular directive.

International reaction

On 6 September, the President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso gave a speech widely interpreted as a criticism of the French policy, warning EU governments to "steer clear of racism and xenophobia". On the 9 September 2010 the European Parliament expressed deep concern at measures taken by the French authorities and criticised the Council of the European Union and European Commission's lack of commitment on the issue. In a resolution tabled by the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, The Greens–European Free Alliance and European United Left–Nordic Green Left groups and adopted by 337 votes to 245 with 51 abstentions the parliament said the Member States in question should immediately "suspend all expulsions of Roma".

The Parliament rejected any statements which link minorities and immigration with criminality and create discriminatory stereotypes as well as the inflammatory and openly discriminatory rhetoric lending credibility to racist statements and the actions of extreme right-wing groups". MEPs also argued that fingerprinting the Romani population is illegal and violates the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

Later in the week, EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding called the deportations "a disgrace", stating in a briefing on 14 September 2010 that "This is a situation I had thought Europe would not have to witness again after the Second World War", and suggesting the European Commission may take legal action against France over the matter.

Her strong response was in part due to a French denial of a leaked file dated 5 August, sent from the Interior Ministry to regional police chiefs, which included the instruction: "Three hundred camps or illegal settlements must be cleared within three months, Roma camps are a priority,"

The dispute between the French government and the EU Commission was widely thought to have overshadowed the EU summit opening on 16 September. Nicolas Sarkozy criticised Reding's remarks, saying "The disgusting and shameful words that were used - World War II, the evocation of the Jews - was something that shocked us deeply". He also affirmed that his government would continue with its policy. According to Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borisov "There was a big argument — I could also say a scandal — between the president of the European Commission and the French president". In response to Mr Sarkozy's suggestion that Viviane Reding's country of origin, Luxembourg, could accommodate the expelled Roma, its Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said he found the statement "malevolent".

The German chancellor Angela Merkel was also quoted as saying "I found the tone and especially the historical comparisons unsuitable. And I hope we can find a better way." At the meeting, Barroso distanced himself from Reding's comments, but affirmed that "The prohibition of discrimination based on racial and ethnic origin is one of the EU's fundamental principles." Finland's foreign minister Alexander Stubb commented that the summit, which has an objective of presenting a unified foreign and economic policy, risks making the EU look hypocritical: "When we promote free trade, climate change and human rights around the world we need to have our own backyard in order." Also at the summit, the French President stated that Germany too intended to initiate a programme of deporting Roma, a claim flatly denied by Germany.

Viviane Reding subsequently privately recanted the historical comparison in her initial statement. Her office apologized for the analogy. The European Commission subsequently declined to follow up on the earlier threat to sue France at the European Court of Justice, or to take other legal action on the Roma matter against France.

Subsequently, the EU said it would seek to compel European Union countries to amend their national rules to the requirements of the European Union's free movement laws, but in so doing did not deny the unlawfulness of the French actions.

Romani NGO's in Turkey as well protested French government and European Union's weak response to French government's decision on the basis of human rights. Efkan Ozcimen, head of Roman NGO in Turkey was quoted saying "Unfortunately France is expelling Roman people while same France and EU advises other countries about human rights. As Romanies living in Turkey, we have all the equal rights and France should take the example of Turkey for human rights."

In November 10, 2011 the Council of Europe condemned the expulsion as "discriminatory" and "contrary to human dignity", publishing the decision by the European Committee of Social Rights on the complaint Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) v. France.

Zoni Weisz, a Roma activist and Holocaust deportation escapee who addressed the German Bundestag's Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony on 27 January 2011, praised Viviane Reding's 'clear words' in denouncing Roma expulsions. Hungarian MEP Lívia Járóka, the sole European Parliament member to have partly Roma heritage, described the root problem as "the failure of Roma integration in most member states in the last 20 years".

As a result of the action taken by Viviane Reding, national governments of the Member States of the European Union were obliged to put in place national strategies and concrete plans for the integration of Romani people and to report on their implementation annually. In August 2012 Viviane Reding has put the action of the French socialist government of Jean-Marc Ayrault and his Minister of the Interior Manuel Valls under surveillance responding to the actions of alleged expulsions of roma people. The call resulted in a shift of policy by the French government confirmed in a Ministerial executive order signed by nine French Ministers and placing the focus of the action on the integration of the Roma as called for by the European Commission.

Purported database

A report in Le Monde on October 7, 2010 reported that the French Office Central de Lutte contre la Délinquance Itinérante (OCLDI) holds a database of French Romani known as the MENS database. The French authorities denied these claims. A formal complaint regarding this was made by lawyers representing four Romani rights groups.

Subsequent investigations were conducted both by the Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (Cnil), an independent body that oversees data privacy, and by the internal auditing unit in charge of overseeing data files. Both inquiries concluded that no MENS database existed or had ever existed, and the CNIL reported finding no file with ethnic information in a broader investigation of the police and gendarmerie systems.

See also

• Roma in France
• Crisis situations and unrest in Europe since 2000

External links

• France Comes Under Mounting Pressure over Mass Deportation of Roma - video report by Democracy Now!
• The Romani People and the Free Movement Directive - Legal Analysis