16.05.2014 700 Rroma in Seine-Saint-Denis are evicted from their settlement

In Seine-Saint-Denis, the largest illegal Rroma-settlement is being evicted. Located next to the A3 motorway, the settlement included more than 700 people. The majority of the inhabitants had left the camp prior to the arrival of the police forces, as the prefect of Seine-Saint-Denis announced. On the site, about 200 huts had been built, which are now being demolished. Accommodation has been organised for a dozen ill persons. A representative of the local Rroma organization criticised the eviction as hasty and as the result of a politics and change of camp in the communities involved: “According to Anaïs, a member of the support group of Rroma in Blanc-Mesnil, who did not want to state her name, the families “hastily packed their bundles on Sunday.” “When we visited them on Sunday, many were already gone and many others were hastily on the move. This rash evacuation is the result of a political change in the two communities”, she regretted.” Both newly elected mayors of Blanc-Mesnil and Aulnay-sous-Bois thus continue a rigorous eviction policy as demanded repeatedly by Manuel Valls. Although this expulsion policy corresponds to the legislation, as the Rroma were residing illegally on the premises, it prevents and hinders a long-term integration of Rroma, which should be aspired (compare Dumontier 2014, Le Figaro 2014, Le Monde 2014, Le Nouvel Observateur 2014, Metronews 2014).