27.08.2014 Rroma settlement in Bobigny: controversy over planned eviction

The French judges’ syndicate criticised the decision of Bobigny’s mayor to evict the local Rroma settlement in defiance of a judge’s decision from July the 2nd. The judgment rejected a request for eviction by the new mayor by referring to the fundamental rights to accommodation and family life and in recognition of the demands of the European Court of Human Rights. The mayoral decree refers to the allegedly precarious security situation in the settlement, whereby no judicial assessment is necessary. In early February this year, a little Rroma girl of the settlement in question had died, victim of a fire. The judges’ syndicate appraised the planned eviction as undermining of the judiciary: “Contacted by Metronews, the syndicate of judges condemns the strategy of sapping a court judgment: by acting this way, the mayor’s office “changes the judge”. “The mayor has the right to issue this decree and we do not know whether he has filed an appeal against the judge’s decision, which was made on July the 2nd, the syndicate explains, but this way he subverts a judgment.” The mayoral decree is already now controversial and will be studied by a new judge on Monday, as an emergency, at the administrative court of Montreuil at 14:30. “It will be interesting to see how he will judge” assures the syndicate which will observe the verdict with vigilance” (Bonnefoy 2014). For several years, a debate has raged in France on how to deal with the informal settlements, built by Rroma immigrants. While many politicians from right to left are in favour of a rigorous eviction policy, individual exponents advocate long-term solutions, which aim at integrating the Rroma immigrants. Approximately 200 people live in the settlement of Bobigny. The organisation Ligue des droits de l’homme points out that the children of the camp attend local schools and would be the primary victims of a forced eviction (compare Breson 2014, Le Figaro 2014, Libération 2014). On the evening of August the 26th, it was announced that the administrative court of Montreuil endorsed the decree of the mayor. The settlement can therefore now be evicted at any time (France Bleu 2014, Mediapart 2014).