{"id":1695,"date":"2013-06-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-06-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/%20rroma.org\/21-06-2013-the-french-rroma-policies\/"},"modified":"2022-08-21T07:33:40","modified_gmt":"2022-08-21T06:33:40","slug":"21-06-2013-the-french-rroma-policies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/fr\/21-06-2013-the-french-rroma-policies\/","title":{"rendered":"21.06.2013 The French Rroma Policies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Alain (2013) presents the French policy towards Rroma. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEU Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso, in an interview with the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tInternational Herald Tribune, called the French policy towards cultural \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tminorities \u201cvery reactionary\u201d, even among left-wing parties. This statement, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnot surprisingly, generated strong reactions from the French politics. Fran\u00e7ois \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHollande denounced Baroso\u2019s criticism as being generalizing. Marie Le Pen regards \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe criticism as an expression of the European system\u2019s bias against France. In \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe first third of 2013, the number of Rroma evicted from their displaced from \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttheir camps grew to more than 30% of the entire French Rroma population. The socialist \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tInterior Minister Manuel Valls is particularly criticised especially for his \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tstatements on the cultural incompatibility of Rroma with France: \u201cles occupants de \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcampements ne souhaitent pas s’int\u00e9grer dans notre pays pour des raisons \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tculturelles ou parce qu’ils sont entre les mains de r\u00e9seaux vers\u00e9s dans la \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmendicit\u00e9 ou la prostitution.<\/em>\u201d [The inhabitants of camps do not wish to \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tintegrate in our country for cultural reasons or because they are in the hands \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof begging or prostitution networks].<\/em> In this context, the French policies \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ton Rroma are described by many critics as being decidedly segregationist. The \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFrench police did not succeed to adopt neutral attitudes towards members of this \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tminority, and is regularly involved in racist acts.<\/p>\n

Duret (2013) tries to address the question of why so many \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma leave Romania and go to Western Europe in search of a better life. She \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbegins her article with the question of why many of these Rroma would not go to \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGermany but rather to France. This had to do with France\u2019s social legislation and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbecause many learned some French in school, according to the answers of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tanonymous respondents. Prospects for the future in Romania are usually very \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpoor, both with regards to the training opportunities and to the economy. One \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thopes that children in France will have a better life. In Romania, the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tenrolment of children in schools is often difficult and unsatisfactory. Many \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tjobs are poorly paid and do not allow one to have a decent life. Duret, like \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmany other authors before her, presents a picture of Rroma as the losers of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcapitalist transition. Under Ceausescu, despite his totalitarian policies, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma were better integrated and respected as after the changes. This statement \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tis somewhat softened further in the article when she cites a Gypsy woman, who describes \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe discrimination during and after socialism as being equally strong. The \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tviolence against Rroma was simply not quite as noticeable due to closed borders \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand not smaller. She concludes the article with the intelligent remark that the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnomadism attributed to Rroma is not a way of life but a social necessity which \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tis the result of exclusion and persecution: \u201cDe nombreux Roms de l\u2019est de l\u2019Europe \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tont repris la route. Mais leurs migrations ne doivent rien au nomadisme que \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbeaucoup leur attribuent \u00e0 tort. Contrairement aux Tziganes de France qualifi\u00e9s \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tde \u00abgens du voyage\u00bb depuis le XIXe si\u00e8cle, les Roms venus de l\u2019Est sont pour la \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tplupart s\u00e9dentaris\u00e9s depuis des si\u00e8cles. Ce n\u2019est pas un mode de vie, plut\u00f4t la \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfuite d\u2019un pass\u00e9 effrayant, d\u2019un futur sans avenir.<\/em>\u201d [Many Rroma from Eastern Europe \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tare back on the road. But their migrations have nothing to do with nomadism \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthat many wrongly attribute to them. Contrary to the Gypsies of France which \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tare qualified as \u201ctravellers\u201d since the 14th century, Rroma from \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEsatern Europe are sedentary since centuries. This is not a way of life, but \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\trather the flight from a scary past, from a future without future.]<\/em><\/p>\n

Renoul (2013) reports on a fence being built around a \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma settlement in Galon d’Eau. The initiators of this action are hoping for a \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsignificant improvement of the situation in terms of the noise and tensions \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twith the settlement\u2019s residents. Critics see the fencing and expulsion of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tresidents of the camp only as displacing but not solving social problems. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNevertheless, the mayor of Galon d’Eau plans, who wants to accommodate on a \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tlegal wasteland fifty Rroma families, is already meeting resistance.<\/p>\n

Hamme (2013) gives information on the initiative of 60 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma families in Ivry, who, with their EU citizenship, want to obtain the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tright to vote in their district. The families. mostly of Romanian origins, have \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbeen living for around one and a half years in a site in Ivry. By getting the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tright to vote where they live, they hope to get better accommodation options \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\taccording to Hamme.<\/p>\n

Harraudeau (2013) gives an overview of the relocations \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof Rroma in France since January 2013. Of the approximately 20,000 Rroma in the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcountry about one-fifth had been relocated. The interventionist policies of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFrench government appear therefore as being intense and unconditional with \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\trespect to illegal settlements. The timely information of the people and the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\torganization of alternative accommodation required by a circular of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tministries are not really \u00a0efficient \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tin practice. According to Harraudeau, a survey by the Conseil Sup\u00e9rieur de \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tl’audiovisual of 2012 showed that around 70% of respondents show massive \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tprejudice against Rroma. The widespread views were that the Rroma are taking \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tundue advantage of their children and lived on theft. The practice of state \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tintervention also exists in other countries such as Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMacedonia and Serbia on the agenda. Spain, on the other hand, could be used as \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ta counterexample. Spain specifically promotes the integration with free language \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcourses and quickly accessible temporary housing.<\/p>\n

Frouin (2013) also notes a lack of effectiveness in \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe implementation of the August 2012 ministerial circular. This agreement \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tshould have meant that those affected by the evictions should be informed early \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tin order to have enough time to search for an alternative accommodation. Frouin \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsays there is a lack of political will to implement the thing in reality. This \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tis partly attributable to the upcoming municipal elections, in which the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpoliticians do not stand out with philanthropic Rroma policies.<\/p>\n

Arte Journal (2013) sees a trend that more and more \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma, especially big cities like Paris, live in the streets. This is a result \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof rigorous eviction policies of the French state, with which a considerable part \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof the illegal settlements were closed in recent months and on the other hand, is \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcompounded by the continued influx of immigrants from Romania and other \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcountries. The sobering conclusion is that life in the streets of France is \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tstill better than the lack of perspective and hunger in their homeland.<\/p>\n

Eric Pliez of the organization \u201cAurore\u201d criticises the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\trigorous eviction policies of the French government as being counterproductive. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tA consequence of the intervention policies is that relations that are built up with \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe inhabitants of these camps are destroyed almost immediately. As a long-term, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsustained policy of integration is being prevented. A further effect is that \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmore and more Rroma are living as homeless people in the streets. One should \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmuch more encourage medium or long-term solutions for the integration of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma. Otherwise, one simply moves the problem from one place to the next (Arte \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJournal 2013\/II).<\/p>\n

Metro News (2013) identified a link between the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tevictions of camps and the weather: During the winter months authorities have \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbeen more accommodating and offered an accommodation to many Rroma or \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tofficially accepted their unapproved dwellings. By summer, however, the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tofficial tolerance towards illegal settlements decreased. Representative of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\torganization \u201cRencontres Tisganes\u201d wish humane solutions that rely more on \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcooperation and integration than on intervention and expulsion. For the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tauthorities the plight of those affected is often not understood or considered.<\/p>\n

Laudinas (2013) informs about the eviction of a Rroma \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcamp in Caissargues. The intervention was again legitimised by pointing at the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tprecarious hygienic and sanitary conditions in the camp. Whether these \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tgrievances are really the main reason for the intervention is doubtful. But the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCaissargues\u2019s mayor want to run on sustainable Rroma politics. The resettlement \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof those affected is planned on an unused military area. One also wants to \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpromote the successful integration, in particular of young Rroma, in schools \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand in the workplace. Such a long-term, inclusive policy is the only \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tintelligent way forward with regard to the free movement of persons starting in \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2014.<\/p>\n

Maliet (2013) reports on the removal of a Rroma camp \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tin Saint-Antoine. The evacuation happened in a highly politicised context, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdominated by hatred: The Mayor Guy Teissier (UMP) had recently announced that \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\teven ten Rroma were still too much in his arrondissement. Didier R\u00e9ault, councillor \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof Marseille, called for Molotov cocktails to be thrown at Rroma camps. These \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tare just a few examples of the current anti-humanist policies towards Rroma. A \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tplanned emergency shelter for the displaced from the camp in Saint-Antoine was \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\trejected by the authorities.<\/p>\n

RTL France (2013) reported on the arrest of four Rroma \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpimps in Versailles. The four men were part of a larger network that was \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\toperating in Europe and the United States. They were in France, looking for new \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tplaces for prostitution and had about twenty Romanian women with them. Almost \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tno money was found: Almost everything had already been sent back to Romania. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe article males almost no difference between the term of Rroma and that of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRomanian. It also states that Rroma operate in networks of pimps, something \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthat needs to be treated with caution. That such existing cases represent \u201cnormal \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tactivities\u201d is to be critically challenged, and one needs to stress that this \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tis in no way to be understood as an ethnic phenomenon.<\/p>\n

O’Neill (2013) manages the feat to use all the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tstereotypes about Rroma in his article. He speaks of travelling merchants who \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcame to riches and have traded their car for villas. He likes to reproduce the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\timage of the happy so-called Rroma kings who, in Buzescu (Romania), build side \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tby side hundreds of villas. The wealth of these \u201cKalderash the kings of Buzesc\u201d \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twas made, according to O’Neill, with metal trading. After the collapse of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsocialist system, many factories were shut down. Some Rroma put this fact to \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tgood use and sold the all the remaning metal inventories of these industrial \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\truins on the market. The houses were built primarily for a purpose: to impress \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe neighbourhood and to clarify their own social status. Finally, O’Neill \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconfirms the stereotypes of child marriages and nomadism. He notes: \u201cLes \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmariages arrang\u00e9s entre des enfants n\u2019ayant pas plus de 13 ans demeurent \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcourants dans les familles fortun\u00e9es de Buzescu. Le pass\u00e9 nomade de la \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcommunaut\u00e9 reste aussi tr\u00e8s pr\u00e9sent. C\u2019est une ville en mouvement. Des familles \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsont toujours en partance vers la France, l\u2019Espagne ou Bucarest. Au coin des \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\trues, des vieillards \u00e9voquent leur jeunesse voyageuse; ils ont la nostalgie de \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tla vari\u00e9t\u00e9 et de l\u2019aventure.<\/em>\u201d [Arranged marriages of children of at most \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t13 are still common in the rich families of Buzescu. The nomad past of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcommunity is still very present. This is a city in movement. Families are \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\talways leaving from France, Spain, or Bucarest. At street corners, elder people \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tspeak about their travelling youth, they are nostalgic of adventure and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tchange.]<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n