31.12.2014 France - Between Expulsions and Integration : The Integration Attempts

While expulsions are going on, there are nevertheless some efforts in France to try to integrate the migrant Rroma who are currently living in ghettoes at the outskirts of the major cities of that country. For example in Tourcoing, the Church is inviting to a debate on Rroma and their place in Society. The priest who initiated the debate stress their exclusion and lack of integration.

Meanwhile, RTL reports on the successful integration of more than 400 Rroma, 219 of them minors, in the region of Lyon. This article is one of the few so far in France showing that integration of these Rroma is feasible, in spite of what Valls stated last year, namely that Rroma cannot be integrated. (RTL)

In the department of Essone, a group of volunteers is working to integrate Rroma and is fighting the current expulsion policies of the French state. (Essonne Info)

While this is true of the minority of Rroma who are migrants and part of the current migration issue in France, there are many more Rroma in that country who are integrated and live “normal” lives. These should not be forgotten in this debate.