Result of the DEBATE: Should Roms be sent back to Romania and Bulgaria?

During the last Friday live! Session of the GerbertEuroClub (22nd October), Julie & Marie-Anne gave an exposé on the Romani people and organized a debate on the French government's Rom repatriation policy. Here is an extract of their text:

"Today, the subject of the debate is about the Romani because it’s a topical issue. Indeed, for the last few weeks, the French government has adopted a strict immigration policy; that’s why they have decided to expel illegal immigrants.

But the French policy is not approved of by everybody. It is considered by the European Commission as discriminatory. Commissioner Viviane Redding criticized the French Government’s actions and compared the repatriation of Roms as being like the deportations of the Second World War (cf. video of Ms Redding). The United Nations has also condemned the French Government’s attitude.

What arguments are given in favor of the repatriation of Roms from Romania and Bulgaria?

• The Roms from Romania and Bulgaria are in an illegal situation in France (they do not all have the 3-month work permit) so they can’t stay here and they have to return to their country.
• We’re in a situation of economic crisis and we can’t afford to pay social security for them.
• There are the same restrictions against the Roms in all European Union countries. Roms are being expelled from Italy, Germany, Sweden, and Belgium among others; so why is the French government so criticized?
• Criminality would be lessened if illegal immigrants from Romania and Bulgaria were sent home.

What are the arguments against the repatriation of Roms?

• Why are these repatriations so present in the media? We are in a situation of economic crisis and when a country has a problem it always finds a scapegoat! And in this case, it’s the Roms… The French government is also playing with words because people tend to amalgamate Roms from Romania and Gypsies who are French citizens.
• The citizens of the newest countries of the European Union, Romania and Bulgaria, don’t have the same rights as the other countries of the EU concerning the free movement of population. They will only have the same rights in 2014. This is really unfair; people who come from Romania should have the same rights to stay in France as every other European.
• The EU decided to make the decade 2005 to 2015 the decade of the inclusion of the Gypsies. Isn’t it paradoxical that we are sending Roms back to Romania?
• What is the point of forcing them back to their country if they return to France a few months later?
• We are the nation of human rights and our motto is “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” and we expel all these people, isn’t it against our fundamental republican values?"

The majority of the members of the GerbertEuroClub present considered that the French Government's policy is ill-advised and voted against the idea of sending Roms back to Romania and Bulgaria.