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Sarkozy vows to fight on after court blocks Roma deportations

31 August 2010 20:21 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A French court has blocked the deportation of seven Roma Gypsies, in a blow to President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plan to dismantle illegal camps, APA reports quoting smh.com.au website.
But Mr Sarkozy’s cabinet has vowed to press ahead with a crackdown on the country’s Roma Gypsy population, in a show of strength designed to quash the appearance of a government split over the policy.
The administrative tribunal in Lille cancelled the deportation orders yesterday, saying the cases did not meet the legal standard of posing ’’a real, immediate and sufficiently grave threat’’.
Under fire for sending thousands of Roma back to Romania and Bulgaria, the French government had announced plans to step up deportations of foreigners caught stealing or begging aggressively.
The Immigration Minister, Eric Besson, outlining measures to fight illegal immigration and people trafficking originating in Romania and Bulgaria, announced plans to change the law to allow easier deportation of offenders.
’’We must broaden the possibilities for issuing deportation orders [for people who pose] a threat to public order by repeated acts of theft or aggressive begging,’’ Mr Besson said, adding he would add two amendments to an immigration bill to be presented to Parliament this month.
The crackdown, which has been criticised by intellectuals and political figures the world over, is starting to expose divisions within the government. This week, the Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner, admitted he had considered resigning, saying he agreed with the basics of the policy, but was not happy with aspects of its execution.
The tough new measures from Mr Besson were announced at a press conference with the Interior Minister, Brice Hortefeux, who said one in five thefts in Paris was carried out by Romanian citizens.
Crime by Romanians in Paris rose 259 per cent in the past 18 months, he said. France does not gather crime statistics by ethnic groups, but many Romanians in Paris are from the Roma minority.
Mr Hortefeux said the grim reality was that Romanian women and children spent days in appalling conditions ’’to give their spoils to a master in their home country’’.
France began a countrywide crackdown on Roma after a group, including women and children, allegedly attacked a police station.
The government deported 283 Roma last week, bringing the number of Romanian and Bulgarian Roma expelled this year to 8313, compared with 7875 last year.
’’The evacuation and demolition operations of illegal and illicit camps will continue because they are legitimate and necessary,’’ Mr Hortefeux said, adding that 128 squats had been broken up and almost 1000 people had been sent back to their country of origin - most of them ’’voluntarily’’ - since the end of July.
The crackdown has sparked international criticism, including from a United Nations anti-racism panel, and the Vatican, while the European Union is reviewing whether it is legal.