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Title: Have your Roma back
Source:
The Economist
URL Source: http://www.economist.com/node/21009786
Published: Aug 19, 2010
Author: unattributed
Post Date: 2010-08-19 21:21:15 by A K A Stone
Keywords: None
Views: 2614
Comments: 5
THE French government has begun expelling hundreds of Roma it says have settled in the country illegally. Most of them are Romanian nationals. In Bucharest, many see the move as unfair and opportunistic—a PR stunt designed to raise the ailing popularity of Nicolas Sarkozy. “I don't think Sarkozy is a racist, but he is using the Roma to raise his popularity,” says Florin Cioaba, Romania's self-styled “King of all Gypsies.” Announced last month by the French president and his ministers, the decision to dismantle Gypsy camps will see some 700 people with Romanian passports sent back to the country by the end of August. A first batch of 79 travellers is due to arrive in Bucharest today; another 131 have been sent to Timisoara. So far, the returns are “voluntary”, meaning that each adult who opts to board a plane has received €300 ($385), along with €100 for each of their children. Acknowledging that they will not be able to stop the Roma from coming straight back, French officials have taken fingerprints in order to make sure such returnees do not receive any more handouts. "It's a waste of money with no result. They just opened up a way for our Gypsies to get some money," Gheorghe Radulescu, an adviser to the foreign minister and himself ethnic Roma, told RFI. Determined not to let the matter rest, Paris is pressing the Romanian authorities to “integrate” their Roma—estimated to number anything between 530,000 and 2.5m. The biggest concern in Bucharest, which usually considers Paris an ally in EU negotiations, is that France might block Romania's planned accession to Europe's passport-free travel Schengen zone, which is due next March. Pierre Lellouche, France's EU affairs minister, said that the "Roma issue" meant his country had “reservations” about the planned Schengen enlargement. Teodor Baconschi, Romania's foreign minister, replied that “no political dialogue should be underscored with threats” and warned against “collective stigmatisation of an ethnic group.” He added that the Roma issue cannot be solved “in 48 hours” or through “police measures”, but only by pursuing an EU-wide integration policy. Romania has appointed a special secretary of state to deal with the issue of Romanian Roma abroad. The new minister will fly to Paris later this month to set out a strategy for Roma reintegration. His appointment came despite 18 similar posts being slashed as part of austerity plans put in place to keep IMF loans flowing to the cash-strapped country. But with unemployment set to surpass 8.5% this year, government programmes and salaries slashed and consumption taxes increased, it will be difficult to find work and decent housing for the returned Roma, and to avoid their descent into petty crime.
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#1. To: A K A Stone (#0)
When will the Vatican step up for these people?
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