France scoffs at criticism after Roma crackdown
Source: Agencies |
August 18, 2010, Wednesday
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FRANCE'S immigration minister yesterday rejected mounting criticism of the government's crackdown on Roma camps and dismissed one deputy's comparison of the police sweeps to the Nazi-era roundup of Jews.
President Nicolas Sarkozy ordered the dismantling of 300 illegal camps of travelers and Roma last month as part of a broader campaign against crime.
He has come under sharp criticism from opposition parties and the French media for his threat to strip criminals of "foreign origin" of their French nationality.
Even members of his own conservative party have expressed doubts about the plans, with one UMP deputy denouncing police moves against the Roma as "rafles", a term used to describe the roundup of Jews in Nazi-occupied France.
"I would really like this language that is specific to World War II, to the atrocity that saw the systematic, industrial extermination of Jews and gypsies, to end," Immigration Minister Eric Besson told RTL radio.
"People are being questioned, their identities are being verified, they are offered money to return to their country of origin. I would really like someone to explain to me what the link is to the roundups of World War II."
Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux announced in the southern city of Toulon yesterday that 51 illegal camps had been dismantled since Sarkozy's order three weeks ago.
The government has given itself three months to remove all 300 camps, a plan announced in the wake of July riots in Grenoble which revived memories of unrest across France in 2005 after two youths of immigrant origin died fleeing the police.
Opponents of Sarkozy's plans, including opposition parties and powerful trade unions, have called for a national demonstration against the measures on September 4.
President Nicolas Sarkozy ordered the dismantling of 300 illegal camps of travelers and Roma last month as part of a broader campaign against crime.
He has come under sharp criticism from opposition parties and the French media for his threat to strip criminals of "foreign origin" of their French nationality.
Even members of his own conservative party have expressed doubts about the plans, with one UMP deputy denouncing police moves against the Roma as "rafles", a term used to describe the roundup of Jews in Nazi-occupied France.
"I would really like this language that is specific to World War II, to the atrocity that saw the systematic, industrial extermination of Jews and gypsies, to end," Immigration Minister Eric Besson told RTL radio.
"People are being questioned, their identities are being verified, they are offered money to return to their country of origin. I would really like someone to explain to me what the link is to the roundups of World War II."
Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux announced in the southern city of Toulon yesterday that 51 illegal camps had been dismantled since Sarkozy's order three weeks ago.
The government has given itself three months to remove all 300 camps, a plan announced in the wake of July riots in Grenoble which revived memories of unrest across France in 2005 after two youths of immigrant origin died fleeing the police.
Opponents of Sarkozy's plans, including opposition parties and powerful trade unions, have called for a national demonstration against the measures on September 4.
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