17.10.2014 France: Thirty civil rights organizations calling for a respectful treatment of the residents of informal settlements

Amnesty International France (2014) reports on a new collective charter of thirty French civil rights organisations, which is currently being elaborated. In it, the initiators demand a more respectful treatment of the residents of informal settlements by the French authorities, especially Rroma: “It [the charter] has the goal to change the mentalities and opinions with which one meets the residents of the sites, by communicating the recognition and respect of their fundamental rights and dignity. The illicit nature of an occupation does not allow use illegal means to end the situation; numerous rules shall limit the scope of the public authorities and the owners [of the occupied land]. Once made public, one will be able to distribute it on the sites and slums in different languages, depending on the people present (French, English, Romanian or Bulgarian). To know ones’ rights is essential in order to assert them and to be protected, or to protect ones family.” It is in fact essential that a fair balance between the right to property, which in France has constitutional status, and the fundamental rights of the residents is ensured, not least their right to accommodation.” The charter on the fundamental rights of the residents of informal settlements will, in addition to the residents themselves, also be distributed to political deputies, bailiffs, police authorities, and other public authorities, in order to enforce its compliance, if somehow possible. One should add to Amnesty International’s remarks that the forced evacuations of informal settlements complicate a long-term integration of Rroma immigrants. The evictions don’t solve the existing problems and the question of integration, but simply push them from one location to the next. Particularly affected are the children, who often visit local schools and are hindered by the evictions at a successful education. The rigorous expulsion of the minority reflects the unwillingness of the French government to engage in an active integration policy. Furthermore, by the one-sided media focus on the informal settlements it is suggested that there are only Rroma belonging to the lower class, which are poorly educated. However, the Rroma from the slums only constitute a minority of the minority in France. According to estimates of the Rroma Foundation, 100,000 to 500,000 Rroma are integrated and live unobtrusively in French society. They belong to the middle class or even the upper class and are constantly ignored by the French media, the public and politicians. For fear of discrimination, many of these integrated Rroma keep their identity a secret.