ianstone
10-01-2010, 03:37 PM
Gypsies paid to leave France face tough new measures to prevent their return
By Peter Allen In Paris (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Peter+Allen+In+Paris)
Last updated at 4:57 PM on 1st October 2010
Comments (38) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1316906/Gypsies-paid-leave-France-face-tough-new-measures-prevent-return.html#comments)
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http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/01/article-1316906-085DA09D000005DC-479_233x400.jpg Tough measures: French president Nicolas Sarkozy is attempting to crack down on Roma communities
Gypsies given cash payments before being deported from France are to have their fingerprints recorded to try and stop them coming back again, it emerged today.
The radical measure follows President Nicolas Sarkozy’s decision to try and rid his country of Roma communities based on the outskirts of major cities like Paris and Lyon.
All have been called magnates for prostitutes, aggressive beggars and other criminals, with many already razed to the ground by riot police.
But many of those deported are suspected of taking the 255 pounds cash payment they get for leaving, and then coming back again a few weeks later.
Most travel under false identities, claiming that their passports have been lost or stolen.
‘It’s something we clearly want to stop,’ said a spokesman for France’s Immigration Ministry.
He said that from today biometric records were to be created on all those receiving the money before flying back to their homes in Bulgaria or Romania.
In 2009 more than 15,000 return aid payments were made to immigrants, mostly Roma, who were expelled from France.
The French government classes the majority as ‘volunteers’, who are given a cash payment of 300 euros per adult or 150 euros for each child.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/01/article-0-006F5FFC000004B0-926_468x317.jpg A spokesman for French Immigration minister Eric Besson said they wanted to stop gypsies from returning
The expulsion fund cost the French government around 8 million pounds last year, and they are now looking for ‘considerable savings’, said the Immigration Ministry spokesman.
He said the first priority should be the ‘care and resettlement of displaced people in their own communities.’
But human rights groups have acted with outrage to the move, saying that it infringes basic rights.
The EU has already threatened France with multi-million pounds fines for discrimination against an ethnic group, and of violating free movement rules.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/01/article-1316906-0B2ECE0A000005DC-93_468x528.jpg Members of the Roma community are being paid to leave France - but they are coming back a few weeks later
Deportations are now taking place most weeks, with men, women and children escorted to airports, before being placed on flights and being told not to return.
Some have even likened the scenes to those which regularly occurred in France under the Third Reich, when Nazi soldiers regularly deported gypsies to concentration camps in Germany.
Referring to modern France, EU justice minister Viviane Reding said: ‘This is a situation I had thought Europe would not have to witness again after the Second World War.’
Many critics have also accused Mr Sarkozy of launching the crackdown to bolster his diminishing popularity in France.
He is particularly keen to impress National Front voters who could well swing the 2012 presidential elections.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1316906/Gypsies-paid-leave-France-face-tough-new-measures-prevent-return.html#ixzz118b1fSGO
By Peter Allen In Paris (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Peter+Allen+In+Paris)
Last updated at 4:57 PM on 1st October 2010
Comments (38) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1316906/Gypsies-paid-leave-France-face-tough-new-measures-prevent-return.html#comments)
Add to My Stories (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1316906/Gypsies-paid-leave-France-face-tough-new-measures-prevent-return.html)
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/01/article-1316906-085DA09D000005DC-479_233x400.jpg Tough measures: French president Nicolas Sarkozy is attempting to crack down on Roma communities
Gypsies given cash payments before being deported from France are to have their fingerprints recorded to try and stop them coming back again, it emerged today.
The radical measure follows President Nicolas Sarkozy’s decision to try and rid his country of Roma communities based on the outskirts of major cities like Paris and Lyon.
All have been called magnates for prostitutes, aggressive beggars and other criminals, with many already razed to the ground by riot police.
But many of those deported are suspected of taking the 255 pounds cash payment they get for leaving, and then coming back again a few weeks later.
Most travel under false identities, claiming that their passports have been lost or stolen.
‘It’s something we clearly want to stop,’ said a spokesman for France’s Immigration Ministry.
He said that from today biometric records were to be created on all those receiving the money before flying back to their homes in Bulgaria or Romania.
In 2009 more than 15,000 return aid payments were made to immigrants, mostly Roma, who were expelled from France.
The French government classes the majority as ‘volunteers’, who are given a cash payment of 300 euros per adult or 150 euros for each child.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/01/article-0-006F5FFC000004B0-926_468x317.jpg A spokesman for French Immigration minister Eric Besson said they wanted to stop gypsies from returning
The expulsion fund cost the French government around 8 million pounds last year, and they are now looking for ‘considerable savings’, said the Immigration Ministry spokesman.
He said the first priority should be the ‘care and resettlement of displaced people in their own communities.’
But human rights groups have acted with outrage to the move, saying that it infringes basic rights.
The EU has already threatened France with multi-million pounds fines for discrimination against an ethnic group, and of violating free movement rules.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/01/article-1316906-0B2ECE0A000005DC-93_468x528.jpg Members of the Roma community are being paid to leave France - but they are coming back a few weeks later
Deportations are now taking place most weeks, with men, women and children escorted to airports, before being placed on flights and being told not to return.
Some have even likened the scenes to those which regularly occurred in France under the Third Reich, when Nazi soldiers regularly deported gypsies to concentration camps in Germany.
Referring to modern France, EU justice minister Viviane Reding said: ‘This is a situation I had thought Europe would not have to witness again after the Second World War.’
Many critics have also accused Mr Sarkozy of launching the crackdown to bolster his diminishing popularity in France.
He is particularly keen to impress National Front voters who could well swing the 2012 presidential elections.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1316906/Gypsies-paid-leave-France-face-tough-new-measures-prevent-return.html#ixzz118b1fSGO