14.03.2014 The integration of the Rroma and the French mayoral elections

Bourgeot (2014) reports on the plans of the socialist mayor of Roubaix, Pierre Duboix, to build a second “integration village” for immigrant Rroma. Duboix pointed to his plans during a discussion about the communal life. The location of the village is not set yet. With these plans, the socialist mayor offers a target for his conservative rival, UMP politician Guillaume Delbar, who argues against Duboixs plans : “I want to remind you that the creation of ghettos assembles an extremely precarious and dangerous population. [ … ] The solution of the Rroma problem is the integration of those who really want to integrate themselves, not the creation of ghettos.” The debate on the willingness of Rroma to integrate is conducted extremely one-sided in French politics, in particular during upcoming elections. Many politicians, from the socialist as wells as from the conservative camp, allege the Rroma lacking will to integrate. With these assumptions they complicate a successful integration of the Rroma. That most Rroma want to integrate and lead a normal life, is beyond question.

In Saint-Denis, a dispute has evolved over the voting rights of a local Rroma group of 80 people. The socialist candidate Mathieu Hanotin has filed a complaint at the local district court questioning the legitimacy of the voting rights of the immigrant Rroma, who are accused of not having a proof of residency. The current communist mayor of Saint-Denis, Didier Paillard, meanwhile rejects Hanotin’s accusations that registering these Rroma is electoral fraud: “But Hanotin pushes his accusations further. He suspects that the Rroma application was coordinated by confidants of the mayor, to rebut the suspicion of “kick back” in exchange for their votes” (Equy 2014).