{"id":1772,"date":"2014-07-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-07-26T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/%20rroma.org\/26-07-2014-rroma-settlements-along-the-tour-de-france-evicted\/"},"modified":"2022-07-24T15:06:51","modified_gmt":"2022-07-24T14:06:51","slug":"26-07-2014-rroma-settlements-along-the-tour-de-france-evicted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/fr\/26-07-2014-rroma-settlements-along-the-tour-de-france-evicted\/","title":{"rendered":"26.07.2014 Rroma settlements along the Tour-de-France evicted"},"content":{"rendered":"

Various French daily \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnewspapers report on the eviction of informal Rroma settlements along the route \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof the Tour-de-France. In the opinion critical observers, the closing of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsettlements in Bondoufle (Essonne), each housing up to 50 people, is \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tundoubtedly due to the media presentation of the Tour-de-France and the city. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThese are supposed to appear clean and tidy to the viewers from all over the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tworld. However, the camps were evacuated under the pretext of security flaws \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand lack of cleanliness, whereby the Tour de France was said to be in danger. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe affected Rroma families are now homeless, as no alternative accommodation were \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\toffered. The Rroma and the aid organisations are particularly upset because the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmayor had insured in January of this year, that the settlements would not be \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tevicted if they were well maintained, would not grow bigger and if the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tinhabitants actively collaborated with the social services. However, the mayor \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof Bondoufle, Jean Heart, denied this towards AFP. His statement was supposedly \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tonly valid for a single Rroma family. It has to be emphasized that the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tevacuation of the informal settlements complicates a long-term integration of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe Rroma immigrants significantly. With the forced evictions, the problems and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe question of integration are simply moved from one location to the next, but \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnot solved. Furthermore, the media focus on informal settlements suggests that there \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tare only lower class Rroma who are poorly educated. According to estimates of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe Rroma Foundation, there are 100,000 to 500,000 Rroma living integrated and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tunobtrusively in French society (Rroma Foundation 2014). They are totally \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tignored by the French media, the public and politics (compare 20 minutes 2014, Lesacq \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2014, Le Parisien 2014, Le Nouvel Observateur 2014, Lemonnier 2014).<\/p>\n