Bulgarian, Romanian Roma in France Evacuated by Streetcar

A year after French President Nicolas Sarkozy called for the removal of Roma camps to be stepped up, rights groups in France say there are just as many Roma gypsies and camps. EPA/BGNES

A total of 150 Roma inhabiting an illegal slum in France's Saint Dennis, chiefly from Bulgaria and Romania, have been evicted and evacuated by the police with the help of a special streetcar.

RATP, a state-owned public transport operator headquartered in Paris, has made available to police on Wednesday a streetcar running the line between Saint-Denis and Bobigny to evacuate the Roma camp of Saint-Denis, France Info has revealed.

The commandeering of public transport in this way has sparked a furious debate in France, with media outlets stating that it echoes the transportation of 13,000 Jews from France in July 1942 during the Second World War. The oppositional Europe Ecology party has declared that the expulsion "recalls the darkest hours of France's history".

A French Interior Ministry spokesperson has stated that the police operation was carried out peacefully and did not include any violence.

In 2010, France undertook a campaign expel Bulgarian and Romanian Roma to their home countries on security grounds.

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