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France to deport Gypsies

19 August 2010 15:14 (UTC +04:00)

Two more repatriation flights are expected to depart today. 93 Gypsies will be deported on August 19. France is planning to send 292 Gypsies back to Romania until the end of August. The government said it would repatriate about 700 Roma on the basis of voluntariness principle. Most of those repatriated were given small sums of money â€” from euro100 to euro300 ($386.40) â€” to help them get back on their feet in their home country, a standard French practice, officials said. Municipalities began to remove Gypsy camps where the settlers were deported from. 50 camps were evacuated so far. The government is planning to remove 250 such camps. Hundreds of thousands of Gypsies settled in France throughout the centuries and more than 15 000 Gypsies moved there from the East Europe. They can enter the Franceâ€™s territory due to visa-free regime, but they have no right to reside and work there. More than 10 000 East European Gypsies were deported from France last year, but most of them returned to France later.