Perilous Times
12 August 2010 Last updated at 11:54 ET
France rounds up hundreds of Roma
A Roma family stand in their illegal camp in Lesquin, near Lille Roma
families have been removed from their camps as part of the crackdown
Some 700 people have been removed from more than 40 illegal Roma
(Gypsy) camps in France as part of a crackdown backed by President
Nicolas Sarkozy.
The country's Interior Minister, Brice Hortefeux, said the Roma would
be returned to their country of origin on "specially chartered flights".
Meanwhile members of a committee of UN experts sharply criticised
France's treatment of Roma.
Members said racism and zenophobia were undergoing a "significant
resurgence".
The UN's Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is
investigating how traveller communities, including the Roma, are
treated.
Some of the experts on the panel issued sharp criticism about the tone
of political discourse in France, including its recent debate on
national identity and immigration.
The committee is expected to make final recommendations by the end of
the month.
'Social burden'
Last month President Nicolas Sarkozy announced plans to shut 300
illegal camps within the next three months.
Mr Sarkozy also said members of the Roma community who had committed
public order offences would be deported immediately.
The order was a response to last month's attack on a police station in
the Loire Valley town of Saint-Aignan by a group of young Roma.
There are hundreds of thousands of Roma or travelling people living in
France who are part of long-established communities.
The other main Roma population is made up of recent immigrants, mainly
from Romania and Bulgaria. They have the right to enter France without
a visa but must have work or residency permits to settle over the
long-term.
French officials said those immigrants could be returned under European
law if they were jobless and represented a social burden.
"All the measures are taken in the context of voluntary return,
accompanied by humanitarian aid," said French immigration ministry
official Frederique Doublet.
The interior minister has announced that he will be meeting Romanian
junior minister next week to call on Romanian police to assist in the
crackdown in France.