Citizen Rights Don't Apply to Roma

[Magda Hassan]

Racism in the mainstream parties is becoming far too 'acceptable'. And this from the so called socialist party. I would hate to see what the National Front are saying. Divide and conquer. Fear the 'other'. And all a bit rich blaming the South Slav Romas because it was the France, amongst others, who participated in the break up and ethnic cleansing of multi ethnic Yugoslavia where Roma were welcome and safe.

French minister Valls defends call for Roma expulsions

Video at link below.


French Interior Minister Manuel Valls: "The majority must be returned to the borders. There is no other solution"

French Interior Minister Manuel Valls says he stands by remarks calling for the country's Roma (Gypsies) to be expelled.
He said few Roma could ever integrate into French society and "the majority" should be sent "back to the borders".
He has been criticised by human rights campaigners, the European Commission and one of his cabinet colleagues.
Amnesty International is calling for a ban on forced evictions of Roma people in France in a report out on Wednesday.
It says more than 10,000 were evicted from temporary camps in the first half of the year.
It has said Mr Valls' remarks were likely to "perpetuate stereotypes and encourage animosity" among the approximately 20,000 Roma who have settled in France, mainly from Romania, Bulgaria and the former Yugoslavia.
"A theory that such and such a person or such and such a people will never, ever be able to integrate just doesn't stand up," said Mr Valls' cabinet colleague, Arnaud Montebourg, according to Agence France-Presse news agency.
"That's what they said about the Italians, that's what they said about the Spanish, it's what they said about the Portuguese, and what they said about the Arabs.
"Decreeing in advance that it is impossible seems to me excessive and is worthy of being corrected."
Mr Valls was also criticised by the UN human rights body, the European Commission, other rights groups including Roma organisations - some of whom are pledging to take Mr Valls to court for incitement to racial hatred.
'Nothing to correct'But Mr Valls - a dapper 51-year-old who polls suggest is a rising star in Francois Hollande's Socialist administration - said he saw no reason to correct comments that Roma lifestyles were "clearly in confrontation" with French ways of life.
"I've got nothing to correct," he said. "My remarks only shock those who don't know the subject.
"The majority [of Roma] should be delivered back to the borders. We are not here to welcome these people.
"I'd remind you of [former Socialist premier] Michel Rocard's statement: 'It's not France's job to deal with the misery of the whole world.'"
The treatment of Roma people - who face widespread discrimination in Europe - is a political hot potato in France.
Mr Valls has encouraged local councils to systematically dismantle illegal Roma slums, and offer the expelled residents free flights back to their countries of origin.
He has also been at the forefront of French opposition to allowing Bulgaria and Romania full access to the passport-free Schengen zone.
Mr Valls is himself the Barcelona-born son of Spanish immigrants Mr Montebourg pointed out on Wednesday.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24273380

Roma deportations split French government





© Photo: AFP

Several French ministers have rejected statements by Interior Minister Manuel Valls that Roma immigrants are inherently different and should be thrown out of the country, casting a shadow on the Socialist-led government ahead of local elections.


By FRANCE 2 / Oliver FARRY (video)
Joseph BAMAT (text)



Contentious statements by Interior Minister Manuel Valls about Roma immigrants in France have sparked a feud within the Socialists-led government, threatening to destabilise President François Hollande's party less than six months ahead of municipal elections.
Housing Minister Cécile Duflot, a member of the Green Party, is leading the charge against Valls, after he said this week that most Roma, also known as gypsies, were incapable of assimilating into French society and should be sent back to their home countries.
Duflot, speaking to fellow party members at a conference in the Western city of Angers on Thursday, accused Valls, a Socialist, of dangerously toying with France's "Republican principles".
"It's not acceptable to say that there are categories within society whose background makes it impossible for them to assimilate. And secondly, that their habits and ways of living are a nuisance to their neighbours," she reprimanded.
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  The truth' is France's Roma are France's problem not Romania's
  

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Valls' comments were also rejected by Social Affairs Minister Marisol Touraine, and François Lamy, a junior minister in charge of urban centres, both of whom met with Hollande to express their opposition, according to Le Monde daily.
Other left-leaning leaders have said that it was unacceptable for Valls to extend, and even ramp up, programmes to dismantle Roma camps and force individuals to go back to Romania and Bulgaria a practice that was loudly condemned by Socialists during former conservative president Nicolas Sarkozy's tenure.
Forced evictions of Roma reached a record 10,000 people in 2013, Amnesty International said in report published this week.
Putting Hollande on the spot
Duflot has added fuel to the divisive and potentially-damaging debate by calling on Hollande to weigh in on the issue.
The president avoided commenting on the subject during a visit to a steel-plant in France's north-east town of Florange on Thursday, despite being prodded repeatedly by reporters.
But he appeared to give tacit support to Valls. Government spokesman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem told reporters on Thursday that the interior minister was carrying out the responsibilities entrusted to him by the Hollande administration "firmly and humanely."
Far from recoiling, Valls has reaffirmed his position since the criticism began piling up. His statements were also defended by some members of his party.
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  The Roma who live and beg on the streets of Paris
  

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While first condemning Valls earlier this week for his "excessive" statements, Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg came to his defence on Friday, telling French RTL radio the interior minister "had a difficult job" and that in the end he "stood by him".
Elections, but which?
The French press has rushed to make speculations about how the divisions within Hollande's government could hurt the Socialist Party in municipal elections early next year.
The right-wing opposition UMP party and the far-right National Front hope to make security and immigration key campaign issues, and many within the Socialist Party think Valls is dangerously playing into their hands.
"The Roma debate is turning our attention away from the real problems, which are unemployment and education. We need to stop making this a subject of public debate," Socialist Senator David Assouline told the politics news site Public Sénat earlier this week.
However, far from hurting Valls' public image, his tough-talking approach has helped him claim the highest approval rating among government ministers.


The fate of impoverished Roma communities in France could yet prove to hold little sway during local ballots next March. Valls may in fact be playing a long-term game. Indeed, he has made no secret of his desire to one day run for the French presidency.
http://www.france24.com/en/20130927-france-division-socialist-party-roma-gypsies-people-valls-duflot-immigration-elections?ns_campaign=editorial