France deports more Roma in defiance of international criticism

France deported hundreds more Roma on Thursday in defiance of growing international unease about its crackdown on traveling minorities. Amnesty International said it was alarmed about the stigmatization of the Roma.

Around 300 Roma departed from airports in Paris and Lyon on Thursday in the latest wave of what the French government calls a voluntary repatriation scheme. The flights bring the total number of Roma expelled from France this year to more than 8,000.

French police also dismantled a campsite in Lille as part of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s major crackdown on crime that began earlier this month. Police have targeted the Roma community, along with other itinerant groups.

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