France doubles number of Roma evictions
France's controversial expulsions of Roma, which has drawn condemnation from the European Commission, hit a record high in 2013. A new report says nearly 20,000 were deported - double the number that were expelled in 2012. ● France expelled nearly 20,000 Roma people in 2013, which is not only a record, but more than double the number kicked out of the country the previous year. Despite President François Hollande’s criticisms of his predecessor’s policy towards the Roma, the number of expulsions has been climbing since he took office in 2012, French newspaper L’Express reported. About 9,400 were expelled in 2012 and 8,400 were forced out in 2011. “The expulsions are part of a policy of refusal,” of the Roma, “that has got worse since the left-leaning government took power,” the report says. “The authorities want only one thing: send the Roma back to their country of origin.” France has been repeatedly criticized by the European Commission for its aggressive removals of Roma people. That inlcuded a warning in September when the commission noted the Roma, like all European Union citizens, are free to go where they wish. Three years ago the Commission's Vice President Viviane Reding sent a similar threat to former president Nicolas Sarkozy insisting that Roma expulsions had to stop. Of a total of 400 Roma camps in France last year, authorities demolished 165 of them, pushing 19,380 people out in the process, according to figures collected by France's League of Human Rights and the European Roma Rights Centre.
AWIP: The Plight of the Roma: Europe's Unwanted People