{"id":1780,"date":"2013-09-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-09-27T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/%20rroma.org\/27-09-2013-rroma-in-france\/"},"modified":"2022-08-04T11:43:06","modified_gmt":"2022-08-04T10:43:06","slug":"27-09-2013-rroma-in-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/de\/27-09-2013-rroma-in-france\/","title":{"rendered":"27.09.2013 Rroma in France"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Balmer \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(2013) reports on the massive criticism of the EU commission on the French Rroma \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpolicies. The reason for the complaint were the repeated statements by Interior \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMinister Manuel Valls, that the majority of the Rroma are not compatible with \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe French due to their specific lifestyle and should return to Romania. With \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthese statements Valls drew the criticism of many of his Socialist party \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcolleagues but at the same time also a lot of sympathy on the part of many \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFrench mayors who feel alone in confronting informal Rroma camps around Paris. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIn a statement, Viviane Reding, Vice-President of the European Commission, reminded \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tValls about the agreement of 2010, where \u00a0France promised the compliance of freedom of travel and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\testablishment for all EU citizens, including Rroma. France has a law that \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tallows deportation of asylum seekers if they cannot raise enough money for \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttheir own livelihood.<\/p>\n

Nun\u00e8s (2013) \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tgives an overview of the responses to Valls statements by various French \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmayors. Most, including socialist politicians, agree with Valls on his order \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand return policies. The reasoning is always similar: France is not responsible \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfor solving the world’s problems. With their anarchical way of life, Rroma are \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnot compatible with the French society and should be deported. They are a \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmassive financial burden on the French welfare state, which is battered enough \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\talready by the economic crisis. For Clermont-Ferrand, they are primarily \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpassive victims who can not be saved by the overstretched French government at this \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttime and thus must be expelled. By the assignment of a victim role, Ferrand \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twants to distance himself from ethnic categorizations: \u201cIl n’est pas question de stigmatiser une population, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmais, dans une p\u00e9riode de p\u00e9nurie d’emplois et de logements, nous ne sommes pas \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ten mesure de r\u00e9ussir leur int\u00e9gration. Il faut mettre un terme \u00e0 l’h\u00e9morragie \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\trom en France<\/em>\u201d [One should not stigmatise a population, but \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tat a time where there is a scarcity of jobs and housing, we are not in a \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tposition to achieve their integration. We have to stop the Rroma bleeding in \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFrance.]<\/em><\/p>\n

Vallaud \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNajat Belkacem, Women’s Rights Minister, clarified the position of the French \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tgovernment in the national Rroma politics: The repatriation is part of a range \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof measures in dealing with Rroma. French Rroma policies are determined by assertiveness \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand humanity: assertivness in the sense that one prevents misery, which is no \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tway to live, \u00a0by the destruction of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma camps. Humanity, in the sense that one always promotes access to \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\teducation, employment and housing where possible (Le Point, 2013). That these \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thumanitarian interventions are permeated of political views and intentions is \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tan important detail that is not discussed in more detail by Belkacem. Instead, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tevictions are declared to be humanitarian measures to protect residents who \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tneed to be saved from untold misery. That living in an illegal settlement could \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbe an unpleasant but acceptable alternative to permanent expulsion practices for \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthose affected is not considered.<\/p>\n

Lib\u00e9ration \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(2013) states that Valls sees his policies as the ones \u00a0of leftist politician who takes the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsuffering and distress of French citizens seriously. That these are anti-socialist \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpolicies, which make a distrinct difference between the equality of people \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\testablished in France, he negates completely: \u201cLe \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tministre a r\u00e9p\u00e9t\u00e9 que son action est \u00abcelle d\u2019un homme de gauche\u00bb. \u00abJ\u2019ai le \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdevoir (…) d\u2019\u00e9couter l\u2019exasp\u00e9ration, les col\u00e8res, les souffrances de notre \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpeuple\u00bb, a-t-il argument\u00e9<\/em>\u201d [The minister repeated that his \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\taction is \u201cthe one of a leftist\u201d. \u201cI have the duty (\u2026) to listen to the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\texasperation, the anger, the sufferings of our people.]<\/em> The Housing Minister, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tC\u00e9cile Duflot, criticised Valls violently stating that he continues to carry on \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNicolas Sarkozy\u2019s policies and set a highly questionable order policy based on \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tethnic origin.<\/p>\n

In her \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tanalysis, Soullier (2013) also emphasizes the strong connection between French \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma policies and the election campaign and its associated views of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpoliticians. So Marie Le Pen continue to talk about a \u201chorde\u201d of Rroma who will \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcome to France starting \u00a0in January \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2014, with the enactment of freedom of movement agreement with Bulgaria and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRomania. Other MPs, such as Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, assign to Rroma \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcriminal habits need to be prevented. Few politicians like Dominique Voynet \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\trecognise that the problem is cannot only be attributed to the Rroma of desire \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfor integration, but is also the result of a lack of will on the part of government \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand society to accept them, \u201cC’est difficile de \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\treprocher aux personnes de ne pas s’int\u00e9grer quand on leur refuse le droit de \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttravailler.<\/em>\u201d [It is difficult to reproach people not to \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tintegrate when one forbids them to work.]<\/em><\/p>\n

Social \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tgeographer Olivier Legros know also point out that only visible Rroma living in \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcamps are discussed by the media and politicians. The invisible, integrated \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma are thereby condemned to non-existence, the general public does not even \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tknow they exists at all. The Rroma are a projection screen for the unwanted: \u201cDans le discours politique fran\u00e7ais, les Roms \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\td\u00e9signent des personnes qui habitent des bidonvilles aux marches des villes, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tqui viennent d\u2019Europe centrale et qui menacent la s\u00e9curit\u00e9 des citoyens. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFinalement, le Rom est une m\u00e9taphore, un mot qui d\u00e9crit des ind\u00e9sirables. Ceux \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tqui se sont int\u00e9gr\u00e9s, on n\u2019en parle jamais.<\/em> [\u2026] Comment \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsavoir, on ne parle jamais de ceux qui se sont int\u00e9gr\u00e9s? Il y en a peut-\u00eatre \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdans votre bureau, dans votre entreprise mais ils n\u2019\u00e9prouvent peut-\u00eatre pas le \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbesoin de le dire tous les jours.<\/em>\u201d (20 minutes France 2013) [In the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFrench political discourse, Roma designate people who live in slums near urban centres, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twho came from Central Europe and threaten the safety of citizens. Finally, the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRom is a metaphor, a word that describes the undesirable. Those who are \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tintegrated, we never talk about. […] How do you know, we never speak of those \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twho are integrated? They may be in your office, in your business, but they may \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnot feel the need to say so every day]. <\/em>According to Legros, <\/em>the really questionable thing is that \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpoverty is raised as a stigma and criminalised. It obscures the social \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconditions that are not the result of personal decisions and actions , but the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tresult of structural, socially institutionalized and maintained inequalities.<\/p>\n

Christian \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVanneste of the extreme rightist \u00a0RPF party (Les Obervateurs 2013), takes the debate as an \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\topportunity to perform an alleged disclosure of the true problems. He pours \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tinto racist generalisations that he does not see as racist because they \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcorrespond to the real behaviour of the Rroma and are confirmed by statistics. Rright \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tat the beginning of the article he states that there is a clear link between \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe presence of the Rroma and a rise in crime rates: \u201cIl y a un rapport entre la pr\u00e9sence dans plusieurs \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tgrandes agglom\u00e9rations d\u2019une concentration d\u2019immigr\u00e9s roumains et bulgares et \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tla d\u00e9linquance.<\/em>\u201d [There is a correlation between the presence \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tin several large agglomerations of Romanian and Bulgarian immigrants and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcriminality.]<\/em> He further dishes out the popular notion of networks of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\torganised beggars, con artists and criminal children gangs, elevating the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\texploitation of Rroma by Rroma as a cultural trait. He also quantifies the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdamage caused metal theft done by Rroma at 800,000 euro. For Vanneste, it is \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclear that the debate about the Rroma is not about racism but about objectified \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfacts. What he does, is racism with questionable statistics and a correlation \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof parameters that de facto have nothing to do with each other, because there \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tis simply no such thing as \u201cethnic culture of delinquency\u201d. The rest of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tarticle consists of a tirade against the EU, which presumes to prescribe the \u201cright\u201d \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpolicy decisions to the French government.<\/p>\n

Comment:<\/em> Valls statements, which are culturising and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tgeneralising are once again a prime example of the massive politicization of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma identity, which is presented to the outside world as natural and anti-political. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIt must be stressed once more that integration is a two way process. If Rroma \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\taccess to education, employment and health care is denied, the integration is nearly \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\timpossible. Quite a few French politicians seem not to want to pursue such an \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tintegration, because they believe from the outset that Rroma cannot be integrated. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhether they have ever spoken with Rroma for a longer time is highly doubtful. The \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpolemic shows how much policies are controlled by entrenched opinions: One \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twants well-educated, financially strong immigrants with high social integration \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcapabilities. If they do not meet this ideal, ethnic characteristics are \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\texploited to declare them not \u201cto be integrated\u201d. That this assignment steeped \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tin political and moral views is usually ignored. Rather, this is presented as \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tindisputable nature of the Rroma.<\/p>\n

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