France Dismantles 3rd Roma Camp in Last 3 Days

An estimated 15 000 Roma, mainly from Bulgaria and Romania, live in illegal camps across France. Photo by BGNES

The French police dismantled Tuesday an illegal Roma camp, which became the third such action in three consecutive days since Sunday.

This time the camp was in the city of Lyon, where about 120 Roma have settled.

The camp dismantled Monday was located in Evry, in the vicinity of the capital Paris, where the police expulsed 70 Roma, including 19 children.

The current French Interior Minister, Manuel Valls, is a former Mayor of Evry.

Valls, who has been strongly criticized over the actions of the new Socialist government against the Roma, told radio Europe 1 that the hygiene and the safety in the camp were unbearable.

Also on Monday, the Minister announced he will accompany the French European Affairs Minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, during his trip to Bulgaria and Romania in September in a bid to solve the issue and give a push to the integration of Roma in the two Balkan countries.

Last Sunday, another 60 Roma were evacuated again from Lyon. On the same day, French PM Jean-Marc Ayrault stated that France will propose the convention of a special European Council to discuss and solve issues with Roma people in the EU

The expulsions come on the heels of last week's announcement that France's Socialist government has decided to ease the job access on its labor market for Bulgarians and Romanians as a means of dealing with the problem of Roma migrants from Bulgaria and Romania.

An estimated 15 000 Roma, mainly from Bulgaria and Romania, live in illegal camps across France.

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