France: Outrage over the death of an eight-year-old Roma girl in a slum fire
Hundreds
of Roma people and their supporters marched through Paris to commemorate an
eight-year-old Roma girl who recently burned to death during a fire in a slum
on the outskirts of the city. News server PressTV.ir reports that Roma people have
been forced to live in dilapidated buildings there without basic hygienic
facilities, electricity, heat, or running water because their access to
municipally-owned apartments is currently denied.
As the death of young Melissa has
now shown, the danger of fire is a very frequent threat in such places. Most Roma
in France are from either Bulgaria or Romania, and as of 1 January they are
supposed to enjoy the same rights to proper housing and to work as any other
citizen of the European Union.
About 17 000 Roma people are
estimated to live in France. Last year the government of Socialist François
Hollande destroyed more than 40 % of Romani encampments there and reportedly deported more
foreign-born Roma than during the entire administration of his predecessor,
Nicolas Sarkozy.
Because Hollande has reduced the
general budget for social services even further, PressTV.ir reports that Roma
people anticipate they will continue to be exploited as scapegoats in order to
distract public attention from Hollande’s policies. However, they reportedly
still retain the hope that the younger generation will ultimately be provided
with the opportunity to attend school, get jobs, and have homes, all of which
France does have to offer.
In the meantime, the
ill-treatment of Roma people in France is continuing to have dire consequences.
PressTV.ir reports that people there are wondering how many more such tragedies
will have to occur before Roma people will finally have their rights recognized
as EU citizens and as human beings.
