Last week, France’s new Socialist government continued in the same vein as its predecessor, the administration led by Nicholas Sarkozy, by repatriating persons alleged to be illegal immigrants. This week’s raids centred on Roma immigrants from Eastern Europe settled in Paris, Lille and Lyon. In scenes reminiscent of the U.K’s October 2011 eviction of unauthorised travellers from Dale Farm in Essex, security forces donning riot gear were tasked with removing Roma immigrants from the illegal encampments.
The evacuation programme began in mid-2010 when the French government announced with vigour its attempts to crackdown on illegal immigrants. The Roma Evacuation/Repatriation Programme as it is now known, owing to the fact that mainly Romanian and Bulgarian Roma have been repatriated, has so far seen the demolishment of illegal camps and the forced deportation of thousands of Romanis to their Eastern European countries of origin. Most of the deportees were reportedly paid around £230.00 each to leave the country but some have since returned
The continuance of the programme has confounded analysts not least because the policy was hewn by the former conservative government just before the May elections in what some considered a sinister ploy to win over voters aligned with the right side of the country’s political spectrum. What most observers least expected however was that the liberal socialist government of Francois Hollande would persevere with the same policy.
The European Commission (EC) have been unimpressed by the government’s actions and have followed up its criticisms of the government which it dished out several years ago by reminding the French that the organisation’s watchful eyes are being trained on the country. The European Commission’s spokeswoman Mina Andreeva confirmed that the organisation was “monitoring the situation” and that “the Commission…has requested further information from the French authorities on the expulsions to ensure that they are being conducted in compliance with EU rules.” The NGO Human Rights Watch have also added their voice to the controversy with one of its directors, Veronika Goldston calling on Hollande to abide by his pre-election promise of ending discrimination against the Roma.
France’s Interior Minister, Manuel Valls refuted claims that the repatriations amounted to “forced expulsions”. Valls’s statements in reference to the health risks which the deportees’ pose and the unsanitary nature of their camps is somewhat contradictory to his claims that they were being repatriated following an “individual evaluation of their legal status in France.” Whatever the case may be the French appear to be treading precariously in respect of one of the EU’s fundamental principles which is the prohibition of discrimination based on racial or ethnic grounds. Evidence as seen from afar appears to suggest that a group of individuals with similar characteristics are being targeted for expulsion from the French territory. On this basis the French will do well to find the legal grounds to justify the expulsions.
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