Post date: Aug 09, 2012 3:2:50 PM
Dozens of police officers in riot gear descended on the camp near the city of Lille, in northern France, shortly after dawn to oversee the evacuation of Roma living in mobile homes near a highway.
The evacuation follows a series of police raids this week in Paris and Lyon during which hundreds of undocumented Roma immigrants from eastern Europe were forced from their homes.
French police raid a Roma camp in Northern France, evicting some 200 Roma living in mobile homes.
VILLENEUVE D'ASCQ, FRANCE (AUGUST 9, 2012) (ITELE) - French police raided a makeshift Roma camp on Thursday (August 9), evicting some 200 people as the Socialist government quietly follows the former conservative administration's policy of repatriating illegal immigrants.
Interior Minister Manuel Valls, who has cultivated a 'tough on crime' image, defended the raids as legal and necessary due to the health risks of hundreds of people living in makeshift accommodation.
The raids recall a wave of expulsions under former President Nicolas Sarkozy which drew criticism from the European Union, the Catholic Church and rights groups in the summer of 2010.
While Roma make up a tiny percentage of France's immigrant population, their nomadic lifestyle and the fact some resort to pick-pocketing and aggressive begging have made them the subject of controversy that helped increase support for the far right ahead of the May presidential election.
Sarkozy's government repatriated thousands of Roma to Romania but many took advantage of porous European Union borders to return to France, having pocketed aid for departure from the French state of 300 euros (236 pounds) each.
Valls said the government would re-examine conditions for granting the aid to illegal immigrants. It would also review restrictions on working in France for citizens of Romania - an EU country which is the home country of many of Roma migrants.
Rights groups said no arrangements for temporary housing had been made for the group of Roma near Lille, which includes some 60 children and said new French President Francois Hollande hadn't kept his promises.
"Francois Hollande made a commitment in a letter dated 27th March to "Rom Europe": 'No expulsions without solutions'. There you go, a promise not kept," said Yann Lafolie, President of 'Ateliers Solidaires'.
An estimated 15-20,000 Roma live in France. There are some 12 million Roma living in eastern Europe, particularly in Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Hungary.