France: a protest against Roma expulsion

The summer began with a tough move from French president Nicolas Sarkozy; the government announced and put in place a controversial plan that envisaged the expulsion of the Roma illegally present in the country. Many non-authorised camps have since been closed down and their inhabitants offered 300€ plus 100€ for each child if they agree to get on a plane back to the countries they arrived from, mainly Romania and Bulgaria.

Many in France see Roma communities as a ‘cradle of crime’, with involvement in illegal activities, such as theft and prostitution. The only answer to the problem, according to the French government, is the expatriation of these communities. In July, when French police shot two young Roma in Grenoble and Saint Aignan, groups of local Roma responded with riots and violence.

The policy has been harshly criticised by human rights organisations and a large group of European Parliament members. According to French law, a member of the Roma population acquires the right to settle in the country only if he or she manages to find a job within three months from his or her arrival in the country. This specific law, however, is interpreted as discriminatory against the Roma community, since as European citizens, they should be entitled to move freely across the member countries of the EU. In their countries of origin, the Roma already face a struggle with unemployment, racism, and social and political exclusion.

The Romani as an ethnic group originated in medieval India. It is likely that they had to leave the country following the defeat of their army by the sultan of the kingdom of Ghazna. Since then they have endured slavery and marginalisation at the hands of the various countries they have settled in; in many cases they have been subject to ethnic cleansing and open hostility. The peak of cruelty came during World War II, when the Nazis put in place their project of systemic destruction of the Roma population. Attempts at the extermination of the Romani are referred to as ‘Porajmos’.

One of the main reasons that is usually used to explain the great hostility towards the Roma focuses on the uniqueness of their culture, which sets them widely apart from what is considered to be ‘normal’ or ‘acceptable’ by the rest of society. The nomadic lifestyle embraced by many Romani groups constitutes a major obstacle to integration, and the lack of a formal registry through which to keep track of the members of their communities makes it difficult for any state to provide services and exert control over them.

The strong communal spirit within a Roma camp means that often members of their community do not feel the need to be part of a bigger society. This is also due to the general suspicion nourished by the rest of society towards this specific group of people that speak a different language, often practice a different religion, and look and think differently. Racism has made it extremely difficult for them to be accepted as valid members of society, or entitled to the same jobs and education as anyone else. Double standards are often applied when a Romani is in search of a job or applies for a decent education, meaning that many are left with no other option but petty crime to sustain themselves. It’s a self-pepetuating cycle, as the more this tendency becomes entrenched, the more criminality within Romani communities becomes organised and difficult to tackle.

A distinct group with individual needs

Many European governments, however, do not seem to be taking the social emergency seriously. Or, at least, they aren’t looking at it from the right perspective. In the Czech Republic and Slovakia it is common to segregate Roma children in classes and schools reserved for disabled children. In Italy a major clampdown on the local Roma began under Silvio Berlusconi’s new government in 2008. The proposal to fingerprint the Roma population present in the country was denounced by the EU as a ‘clear act of racial discrimination’.

Even the UK, which in the past has proved to be quite tolerant towards its community of ‘travellers’, has recently changed direction in its policies under the coalition government formed by the Tories and the Lib-Dems. The Communities Minister Eric Pickles has put forward a proposal that would allow the government to evict the Roma groups with only a temporary permit to use land for their sites. This proposal, part of the wider project to balance the state budget, would see many people being driven back onto the streets and would criminalise those refusing to comply.

Raising awareness on the issue of marginalisation of the Roma community is extremely urgent and necessary. A few positive steps have already been taken; The Decade of Roma Inclusion, sponsored by the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme and other organisations, is a project that tries to set priorities and identify alternative paths towards the solution of the Roma issue. The countries taking part in it (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Spain), however, still lack the will for an effective change to take place.

A good precedent, however, seems to provide a little hope. In 1989 the Spanish city of Avilés introduced programmes to better integrate Roma people, focusing on employment, education and provision of social services. Starting from 2000 Roma families have been re-housed in standard accommodation along with the rest of the population. Integration seems to have been fully achieved to the extent that the Avilés is now regarded by EU organisations as a good model to export. In the end, the problem of the Roma is not an unsolvable riddle. It will take a while, though, for the national governments to understand that the Roma are not an insect colony, but a group of individuals that need to be treated as such.