18.10.2013 Rroma Debate in France

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The ruthless expulsion of a fifteen year old Gypsy girl to Kosovo, a girl who lived with her family for five years in France, drew added attention to the migration policies of that country. The girl was picked up during a school trip by the police and taken directly to the airport. The uncompromising internal politics of the interior minister Valls has led to severe tensions within the Socialist party. Many exponents of the party have accused President Hollande to continue a policy similar to that of his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy and to tolerate Manual Valls as a “sarkozy like prefect”. Meanwhile in Paris, a demonstration with a few thousand participants demonstrated against the deportation of Leonarda Dibrani and French immigration policies (Lehnartz 2013). In an interview with Euro News (2013) Dibrani suggests that Kosovo is not her home now. Her whole life, her future, is in France. She does not understand the migration policy of the socialist government. In spite of the controversial policies, Manuel Valls remains the most popular minister  of the Socialist party according to surveys. The right-wing National Front has seen a massive increase of voters in recent months.

Despic – Popovic (2013) trace the historical context of the relationship of Kosovo and its Rroma, a theme of greater public interest in the background of the expulsion of Leonarda Dibrani. She notes that before the Kosovo War in 1999, about 100,000 Rroma lived there[1], today there are still around 30,000. Unemployment and exclusion are daily occurrences. Rroma are regularly accused of having collaborated with the Serbian regime, because several Rroma buried the victims of the Serbian army as gravediggers. With the recognition of Kosovo as an independent state in 2010, many exiled Kosovars, including many Rroma have been forced to return to Kosovo. The deportees, among them many children, often do not speak either the two official languages ​​of Kosovo (Serbian or Albanian), rendering inclusion in the school system more difficult. In addition, access to the labour market and to health care is far from assured for minorities. The UN High Commission for Refugees and Amnesty International, have called for a permanent international protection for Rroma.

Atlantico (2013) takes a critical look at the social integration of Rroma in Kosovo. Since independence in 2008, Kosovo has been criticised by human rights organizations for its violation of the rights of minorities. Discrimination, its resulting poverty, and internal displacement are widespread. Wanda Troszczynska of Human Rights Watch states: “Les pays européens renvoient les gens les plus vulnérables du Kosovo vers une situation de discrimination, d’exclusion, de pauvreté et de déplacement à l’intérieur de leur propre pays d’origine.” [European countries send most vulnerable people back to Kosovo towards a situation of discrimination, exclusion, poverty and travel within their own country.]

Le Carboulec (2013) adds that the deportation of Leonarda Dibrani and her family to the highlights whole question of dealing with asylum seekers in France. Is it appropriate to “surgically” to identify and remove people without papers? The Rroma are therefore once again the focal point of French politics with regard to the treatment of minorities, undocumented migrants and foreigners in general.

Akerman (2013) and thirty other people take the French society made a statement in writing in Mediapart about Manuel Valls’ statements about Rroma. The signatories state their great concern about the denigration of Rroma by the French Minister of the Interior and demand a more respectful handling of the members of this ethnic minority. She herself, as a lesbian, and also gay, bisexual, transsexual or transgender have always had to justify their identity of course wrongly so, in the course of their biography. The Socialist Party should not degenerate into a mere appendage of the UMP but must rely on its socialist values: “Les problèmes roms ont des noms parfaitement connus et nullement originaux : ils s’appellent droit au travail, droit au logement, précarité, stigmatisation, honte et pauvreté. Ce n’est pas nous qui sommes idéalistes, c’est ce gouvernement, son ministre de l’Intérieur, son Premier ministre, et celui qui les a nommés, qui sont racistes.” [Roma problems are well known and not original: they are called right to work, right to housing, insecurity, stigma, shame and poverty. It is not we who are idealistic, it is the government, the Minister of the Interior, the Prime Minister, and he who appointed them, who are racist.]

Francis Chouat (2013), the mayor of Evry takes a position in Le Monde on Valls controversial statements. As mayor, his perspective requires him to take pragmatic solutions about the concerns of his citizens. In the case of Rroma, this means that one must looks straight at the truth. Chouat believes that most of the Rroma living in the illegal settlements live in conditions of exploitation or as part of mafia networks. They therefore have virtually no power to act own or are involved in criminal activities: “La vérité, c’est d’abord la réalité regarder en face. Ce sont les conditions de vie dans les campestratus ment, totalement indignes, les enfants en danger, souvent exploites – comme beaucoup de femmes – par of réseaux mafieux. Ce sont aussi les vols et les Trafics organisés. […] La vérité, c’est donc dire que le claire ment of démantèlement campestratus ment est un impératif. Un pour les impératif Riverains comme pour la roms dignité of populations.”[The truth is, first look at reality. These are the living conditions in the camps, totally unworthy, children at risk, often exploited – like many women – by criminal networks. There is also the trafficking and organized theft. […] The truth is it clear that dismantling these settlements is a must. An imperative for local residents as to the dignity of the Roma population.] Chouat aligns himself to a governmental police way of looking at Rroma, to the eviction of camps which he thus legitimises. The possibility that the Rroma living in camps might simply settle there because of poverty and lack of alternatives is negated. Instead questionable ideas about intra-ethnic clan structures and relations of exploitation are dished to legitimise intervention.

Mouillard (2013) addresses the question of where the EU’s 50 billions earmarked for the Rroma integration went. On one hand, the EU support is divided into three pots: the European Social Fund, the European Development Fund and the Cohesion Fund. From these three funds in turn only a fraction will benefit Rroma. The actual expenditure for the integration of Rroma is difficult to track because the French Household Statistics do not work with ethnic categories. The integration projects named by Mouillard thereafter refer to travellers, people living in ghettoes or marginalised ones as in the case of housing projects. Another problem lies in the fact that EU countries only use a fraction of their assigned money from three funds effectively: “Mêmes faiblesses en Hongrie, où 40% des fonds sont dépensés, ou encore en Bulgarie (20%). Une précision tout de même : cet argent n’est pas perdu. Il retourne dans les caisses de Bruxelles, au titre de la règle du «dégagement d’office.»” [Same weaknesses in Hungary, where 40% of the funds are spent, or in Bulgaria (20%). Accuracy though: the money is not lost. It is returned to the coffers of Brussels, under the rule of “decommitment.”] Another problem lies in the administrative and organizational hurdles, making the access to the funds more difficult.

[1] This figure represents only the visible Rroma. Rroma were very well integrated in Kosovo and often confused with the Turkish minority. The real number was around 250-300,000. Less than 30,000 still live in Kosovo.

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