France and Romania plan to co-operate over Roma

THE EUROPEAN Parliament has condemned French president Nicolas Sarkozy’s deportation of hundreds of gypsies to their Balkan homelands, as France and Romania agreed to work together to improve Roma integration.

France has sent almost 1,000 Roma back to Romania and Bulgaria in recent weeks, as part of what Mr Sarkozy calls a “war on crime”, but which critics denounce as both a cynical bid to boost his popularity and crude discrimination against an ethnic minority.

In a non-binding resolution, MEPs expressed “deep concern at the measures taken by the French authorities and other member states’ authorities targeting Roma and Travellers” and urged them “immediately to suspend all expulsions of Roma”.

Read more

MORE ARTICLE
SPECIAL: The Situation in France