New York Times editorial says France is failing immigrants, including Roma

An editorial in the New York Times published online on 17 June says that France has failed to come up with a "humane" plan for handling immigrants from Africa and the Middle East as well as Romani people from Bulgaria and Romania. While highlighting that the main victims of this failure are the migrants themselves, the paper warns that "another casualty may be a sense of unity in the European Union."

The editorial reports on police in Paris using tear gas to clear migrants from a sidewalk encampment on 8 June. The paper says that same day a four-year-old Romani child died in a fire at a camp in Lille, the second such death in two days, with the first occurring in a camp on the outskirts of Paris.

France has reportedly cracked down recently on migrants crossing its border with Italy, referencing EU rules as the pretext. The New York Times called that move "a cynical slap in Italy’s face."

"France must commit adequate resources to deal with growing numbers of migrants, especially children, in accordance with European and international norms, " the paper writes. "And it should work with Italy and other European Union members to make sure that the June summit meeting produces a coherent plan on migrants."