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European Parliament Tells France to Suspend Deportations of Gypsies
The European Parliament called on France to suspend its expulsions of Roma migrants.
The nonbinding motion by the Strasbourg, France-based parliament, which said the expulsions amounted to racial discrimination, passed by 337 votes to 245 with 51 abstentions.
President Nicolas Sarkozy in July called for illegal gypsy camps to be dismantled and their inhabitants returned to Romania and Bulgaria. The Interior Ministry says that in August 128 camps were dismantled and 977 people deported.
French Immigration Minister Eric Besson rejected the lawmakers’ criticism. “France has taken no specific measures against the Roma,” he said in a statement. “The removals from illegally occupied lands resulted from the application of legal decisions.”
Sarkozy’s crackdown came after itinerant workers went on a rampage in central France following the death of a man during an identity check. While the rioters were French citizens, most of the dismantled camps are inhabited by Roma, or gypsies, who hold Romanian or Bulgarian citizenship.
Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union in 2007. Their citizens need permits to work in France until 2014.
Besson and European Affairs Minister Pierre Lellouche were in Bucharest today to discuss increasing aid for Roma communities in Romania.
To contact the reporters on this story: Gregory Viscusi in Paris at gviscusi@bloomberg.net
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