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NEWS & LETTERS, September-October 2010
World in View
France expelling Roma
by Gerry Emmett
In a bid for right-wing votes in upcoming elections, French President Nicolas Sarkozy's government began deporting Roma. Recently hundreds were put on flights out of the country, despite European Union rules that allow for the free movement of citizens. The Roma are flown to Romania, where they have no economic prospects at all. Romania itself has been hit hard by the world economic crisis.
The deported Roma are given 300 euros. This is not enough to establish them in Romania, and it is barely enough to get them a ticket back to France. Many do end up legally returning.
This is simply the naked, racist harassment of Roma designed to appeal to the xenophobic elements of the French electorate, the National Front voters. With his unpopularity steadily growing, Sarkozy has decided to reach out in that direction. It doesn't matter whether the human problems are solved, only that his government is seen to be harassing and deporting members of a vulnerable minority group.
Unfortunately, this is part of a pattern of attacks on Roma throughout much of Europe, from Italy to the Czech Republic to France today. As French Socialist lawmaker Arnaud Montebourg stated, "We are moving toward an official racism."
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