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EU commission refuses to condemn French memo targeting Roma camps
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 13 - 09 - 2010


The European Commission refused Monday to condemn
a leaked French government memo which appeared to indicate that the
country's illegal-immigrant expulsions were targeting the Roma
community.
The interior ministry note, published by the Le Parisien newspaper
on Saturday, stating that "within three months, 300 illegal camps are
to be dismantled, predominantly those of the Roma.", according to dpa.
But despite that seeming to contradict the European Union's
anti-discrimination laws, the bloc's executive studiously avoided
taking a firm stance on the latest development.
"We will study everything. We will listen to the (French)
authorities. I am not going to go into the details," said Matthew
Newman, spokesman for EU justice commissioner Viviane Reding.
Reding is conducting an investigation into whether the French
crackdown violates the EU's free movement and anti-discrimination
laws.
"There is no deadline for this analysis, we take our time, to
do it carefully," Newman said.
President Nicolas Sarkozy's centre-right government has been under
fire since late July, when it started repatriating Roma living in
illegal camps, either via a voluntary 300-euro (385-dollar) payout or
an expulsion order for those deemed a threat to public order.
Under current rules, EU citizens staying in another country from
the bloc for more than three months can be expelled if they have no
means to support themselves or if they pose a serious threat to
public order.
But cases must be assessed individually, preventing
mass deportations, and no single ethnic group can be targeted.
According to Sophie in 't Veld, a Dutch liberal member of the
European Parliament, the commission has been far too lenient with
French authorities.
"It cannot continue to say it will take its time in analysing the
situation, with no deadlines, and limiting itself to an amiable
exchange of letters," she said in a statement Monday.
In 't Veld said the commission should go after the "relevant
French authorities" and consider initiating legal proceedings that
could ultimately see France being fined by the European Court of
Justice.
Last week the European Parliament deplored the commission's "late
and limited response" to the crisis and urged France to stop
expulsions "immediately."
The assembly joined a chorus of international condemnation which
included the Vatican, a human rights panel of the United Nations and
Romania, where France sent most of the expelled Roma.


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