French Police Cracks Down on Roma Squatters in Lyon

Romanian Roma pictured arriving from France at the Bucharest Airport in August. Photo by EPA/BGNES

The police in the French city Lyon dismantled an illegal camp of Roma squatters in the downtown.

At the beginning of September, the administrative court in Lyon issued an order for the removal of the camp which was inhabited by some 150 people.

The deadline for vacating the spot expired last week but some 30 people had still remained in place before its demolition, French media reported.

The plot in question is owned by the Rhone-Alpes department. It is still unclear what accommodation options are there for the evicted Roma.

As France undertook a campaign expel Bulgarian and Romanian Roma to their home countries over the past few months on security grounds.

Several of the planes that transported Romanian Roma who accepted a compensation to go back to their home country over the summer departed from Lyon.