UN slams French prejudice
THE UNITED Nations’ Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has criticised the French government for a lack of political will’ in tackling mounting acts of racism.
The timing of a report on France’s behaviour towards minorities comes as the government begins to close gypsy encampments across the country.
It has stirred further debate over the closures and the actions of the government including its debate on national identity, its expulsion of some travellers from the country and plans to strip certain criminals of their nationality.
A visa system for travellers and a policy of limiting voting rights to those who have lived for several months in the same commune were also criticised.
One UN expert said the government’s attitudes amounted to an “incitement to hatred,” while another said that the travel log books required to be used by those without a fixed address reminded him of the Pétain period.
Another questioned the constitutionality of special measures for French people who were originally of foreign origin and said he failed to see exactly who might be defined as such. The legality of expelling minorities such as gypsies from Eastern Europe, as they are EU citizens, was also raised.
In Choisy-le-Roi in the Val-de-Marne, a group of 50 gypsies have been given shelter by the local mairie in a school gymnasium after the government closed down their camp.
