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EU: French Roma Deportations a 'Disgrace'

   VOA News 14 September 2010
   Authorities crackdown on Roma in France (file)

Photo: AP

   Authorities crackdown on Roma in France (file)

   The  European  Union's  executive  body  is  threatening  legal action
   against  France  for  the  country's  deportation  of  Roma, or Gypsy,
   migrants.
   EU  Justice  Commissioner Viviane Reding said Tuesday she was appalled
   by the situation, and called it a "disgrace."
   France has expelled more than 1,000 Roma since August.
   Reding  criticized  Paris for telling the EU it was not discriminating
   against the Roma in its deportation of immigrants.
   She  said  a  leaked  French  government  memo openly contradicts that
   claim.   The  French  immigration  minister,  Eric Besson, has denied
   knowledge of the memo.
   French  President  Nicolas  Sarkozy has defended the deportations as a
   crackdown on crime.  Â
   The  European  Parliament  voted  last  week  in favor of a resolution
   demanding France end the expulsions.
   Human  rights  group  Amnesty  International  has called on the French
   government to stop what it called France's "cycle of discrimination."
   The  European  Commission  says  Roma  are the largest minority in the
   EU.   There are estimated to be as many as 12 million Roma throughout
   the EU, with 15,000 living in France.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP.

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