ianstone
07-29-2010, 03:04 PM
Sarkozy accused of racism for ordering closure of 300 illegal gypsy camps and expulsion of Roma after riot
By Mail Foreign Service (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Mail+Foreign+Service)
Last updated at 4:00 PM on 29th July 2010
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http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/07/29/article-1298690-01E4830F000004B0-271_233x357.jpg 'Racist': Nicolas Sarkozy has ordered 300 gypsy camps to be dismantled
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been accused of racism after ordering authorities to dismantle 300 gypsy camps and expel illegal Roma immigrants.
His actions come a week after riots between gypsies and police in which a young man was shot in the Loire Valley.
In response to the trouble, Mr Sarkozy called a government meeting yesterday and he said those responsible for the clashes would be ‘severely punished’.
He ordered the government to crackdown on all illegal Roma immigrants, almost all of whom have come from Eastern Europe.
He said illegal Gypsy camps ‘will be systematically evacuated’, calling them sources of human trafficking, exploitation of children and prostitution.
He also pushed for a change in France's immigration law to make such expulsion easier ‘for reasons of public order’.
It comes after last week's riot in the small Loire Valley town of Saint Aignan where dozens of gypsies armed with hatchets and iron bars attacked the police station, hacked down trees and burned cars.
The riot erupted after a gendarme shot and killed a traveller who had driven through a checkpoint.
Today, the president was accused of using language with chilling undertones in a country where authorities rounded up Gypsies and sent them to concentration camps during the Nazi occupation in World War II.
French Roma representatives were not invited to yesterday’s presidential meeting, and said they are the only ethnic group that French authorities can openly target.
Community leaders claim the very principle of the meeting is racist.
Henri Braun, a lawyer for the group, said: ‘I am afraid we're preparing to open a blighted page in the history of France, which could sadly lead to acts of reprisal in the days ahead.
‘There is a huge problem of racism in France towards this population, there is enormous discrimination.’
However, Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux insisted the measures ‘are not meant to stigmatise any community, regardless of who they are, but at to punish illegal behavior’.
Alice Januel, whose organisation represents Catholics among French Gypsies, warned: ‘If Mr. Sarkozy thinks that by clamping down he is going to calm the youth, I don't think that he will succeed. We have a youth that is rebellious.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1298690/Sarkozy-accused-racism-ordering-closure-illegal-gypsy-camps-riot.html#ixzz0v6Ehyn4G
By Mail Foreign Service (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Mail+Foreign+Service)
Last updated at 4:00 PM on 29th July 2010
Comments (54) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1298690/Sarkozy-accused-racism-ordering-closure-illegal-gypsy-camps-riot.html#comments)
Add to My Stories (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1298690/Sarkozy-accused-racism-ordering-closure-illegal-gypsy-camps-riot.html)
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/07/29/article-1298690-01E4830F000004B0-271_233x357.jpg 'Racist': Nicolas Sarkozy has ordered 300 gypsy camps to be dismantled
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been accused of racism after ordering authorities to dismantle 300 gypsy camps and expel illegal Roma immigrants.
His actions come a week after riots between gypsies and police in which a young man was shot in the Loire Valley.
In response to the trouble, Mr Sarkozy called a government meeting yesterday and he said those responsible for the clashes would be ‘severely punished’.
He ordered the government to crackdown on all illegal Roma immigrants, almost all of whom have come from Eastern Europe.
He said illegal Gypsy camps ‘will be systematically evacuated’, calling them sources of human trafficking, exploitation of children and prostitution.
He also pushed for a change in France's immigration law to make such expulsion easier ‘for reasons of public order’.
It comes after last week's riot in the small Loire Valley town of Saint Aignan where dozens of gypsies armed with hatchets and iron bars attacked the police station, hacked down trees and burned cars.
The riot erupted after a gendarme shot and killed a traveller who had driven through a checkpoint.
Today, the president was accused of using language with chilling undertones in a country where authorities rounded up Gypsies and sent them to concentration camps during the Nazi occupation in World War II.
French Roma representatives were not invited to yesterday’s presidential meeting, and said they are the only ethnic group that French authorities can openly target.
Community leaders claim the very principle of the meeting is racist.
Henri Braun, a lawyer for the group, said: ‘I am afraid we're preparing to open a blighted page in the history of France, which could sadly lead to acts of reprisal in the days ahead.
‘There is a huge problem of racism in France towards this population, there is enormous discrimination.’
However, Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux insisted the measures ‘are not meant to stigmatise any community, regardless of who they are, but at to punish illegal behavior’.
Alice Januel, whose organisation represents Catholics among French Gypsies, warned: ‘If Mr. Sarkozy thinks that by clamping down he is going to calm the youth, I don't think that he will succeed. We have a youth that is rebellious.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1298690/Sarkozy-accused-racism-ordering-closure-illegal-gypsy-camps-riot.html#ixzz0v6Ehyn4G