{"id":1485,"date":"2013-10-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-10-11T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/%20rroma.org\/11-10-2013-rroma-in-france\/"},"modified":"2022-08-04T11:48:41","modified_gmt":"2022-08-04T10:48:41","slug":"11-10-2013-rroma-in-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/de\/11-10-2013-rroma-in-france\/","title":{"rendered":"11.10.2013 Rroma in France"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The anti-racism \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tassociation Mrap has announced it will file a lawsuit against Manuel Valls for \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tincitation to racial hatred. Valls had stated that, in his opinion, most Rroma \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdo not want to integrate, and should return to Romania and Bulgaria. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tParticularly problematic about Valls\u2019 utterances is that he enjoys broad \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsupport among the French population and thereby racist views about Rroma are \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbeing represented as indisputable facts. Valls face a fine of up to \u20ac 45,000 (2013 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tS\u00fcddeutsche Zeitung, Le Monde, 2013).<\/p>\n

Strassenburg \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(2013) takes a critical look at the trial of 27 Croatian Rroma in France. The \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdefendants are accused of organized theft and trafficking: They are reported to \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thave exploited children to earn money for themselves. They \u201ctrained them only to steal from the youngest age.\u201d<\/em> This contrasts \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twith views of critics who hold that the imputed organised structures are a projection \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof the prosecution: \u201cMali, [a journalist] \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcould never observe in three years the organized criminal structures, which are \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\treproached to the 27 defendants in Nancy.\u201d<\/em> This process it is not just \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tabout the crimes of the accused, but also about socio-political conceptions of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\torganised crime among the Rroma. \u201cGypsy Kings\u201d and organised, structured \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdelinquency is primarily a police view of the Rroma, and has been discussed \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tseveral times. This does not mean that no crimes were committed by Rroma, but that \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tit is very questionable to ascribe Rroma a culturally determined predisposition \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tto organised crime (see L\u2019Express 2013).<\/p>\n

Zarachowicz \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(2013) speaks to the sociologist Jean-Pierre Li\u00e9geois about how are being \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\texploited for French politics. Li\u00e9geois sees the knowledge about the Rroma as \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbeing dominated by large gaps. This ignorance is instrumentalised by \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpoliticians to project their own views on it. He deconstructs the travelling \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tlifestyle, which again and again is attributed to them, as being the result of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsocial exclusion, rather than a self-chosen way of life, and therefore as false: \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u201cLes familles sont souvent mobiles par \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobligation, pour s’adapter \u00e0 des conditions d’existence changeantes, parfois \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmena\u00e7antes. Au cours de l’histoire, on assiste \u00e0 des d\u00e9portations, par exemple \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdu Portugal vers l’Afrique et le Br\u00e9sil, de l’Angleterre vers les colonies \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\td’Am\u00e9rique et vers l’Australie. Ou, quand des conflits se produisent, les Roms, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsouvent pris comme boucs \u00e9missaires ou bloqu\u00e9s entre les bellig\u00e9rants, doivent \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpartir. [\u2026] Les Roms ont ainsi d\u00fb int\u00e9grer la mobilit\u00e9 dans leur existence, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpour s’adapter \u00e0 un rejet qui reste dominant.<\/em>\u201d [Families \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tare often mobile due to the obligation to adapt to sometimes threatening \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tchanging conditions of life. In history, one sees deportations, for example \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfrom Portugal to Africa and Brazil, from England to the American colonies and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tto Australia. Or, when conflicts occur, Roma, often used as scapegoats or stuck \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbetween belligerents, have to\u00a0 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tleave. […] The Roma have had to integrate mobility into their lives, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tto adapt to a rejection that remains dominant.]\u00a0 <\/em>He also identifies a historical, European government \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpolicy, that either wants to deport or to forcefully assimilate Rroma. In the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcase of France, the policy of repatriation is currently the dominant paradigm. From \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ta financial point of view, this policy actually costs more than a successful \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tintegration.<\/p>\n

In his \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tarticle, Potet (2013) points to an alternative to Valls repressive policy. In Indre, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe socialist mayor has built an accommodation, which aims to help immigrant \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma to integration. The Rroma children can go to the local school. The \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\timmigrants had previously been living in a derelict factory. This support is \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tlinked to reciprocity: the children must attend school regularly, adults need \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tto search for work, caravans are regularly maintained. With these \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma-friendly policies, Jean-Luc Le Drenn puts re-election on the line.<\/p>\n

The \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHuffington Post (2013) takes a look across the border from France: There one \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thas problems other than the Rroma. High unemployment rates are at the centre of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpublic attention. Before the economic crisis, the Spanish state set money aside \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfor the integration of resident and migrant Rroma, money meant to facilitate \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\taccess to education, the labour market, and to health care. This state \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tintegration program is still regarded as a European model of a social Rroma policy. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThis does not mean that exclusion and racism against the Rroma no longer exist \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tin Spain, but this was an important first step towards a successful integration \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof Rroma.<\/p>\n