France Begins Deporting Bulgarian Roma in 2 Days

The French Interior Minister, Brice Hortefeux, informs 51 illegal Roma camps with mostly Bulgarian and Romanian natives have been dismantled over the summer. Photo by BGNES

The French Interior Minister, Brice Hortefeux, announced Tuesday his country will begin deporting Roma in two days by putting them on flights to their native countries.

Hortefeux further said 51 illegal Roma camps have been dismantled over the summer while 81 Roma were evacuated Tuesday morning from a municipal plot in central France and another 150 will be evacuated from a camp near Marseille in days.

“A total of 700 Roma will be sent back home by the end of August via air flights. The flights to Bulgaria and Romania are scheduled for August 19 and 26 and will use private air carriers from State airports. A third flight is planned for the end of September,” the Minister is quoted saying by the French press and the Bulgarian news agency BTA.

The French Minister of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Mutually-Supportive Development, Eric Besson, informed France would not organize special flights for Roma, but would rather reserve seats on regular flights.

Besson admitted those deported can return to the country because such is the law.

Most of the Roma in France came from Bulgaria and Romania after the two countries joined the EU in 2007 and are seen by the majority of the French as a threat to security, according to France Press.

 

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