Recently in Paris, around 150 Roma
(otherwise known in popular culture as “Gypsies”, which they
actually find to be a derogatory term) were ejected from a settlement
and left homeless on the outskirts of the city. Among those evicted
are children, whose families have nowhere to go after their homes
inside the settlement were bulldozed on government orders. The
settlement was located in Noisy-le-Grand, a suburb on the east side
of Paris. The authorities in the area, claims an Amnesty
International spokesperson, have completely neglected their human
rights obligations in the planning and undertaking of this eviction.
Across France, many Roma children have been rendered homeless because
the government carries out forced evictions but does not make even a
cursory effort to help find alternative housing. A court in Bobigny
earlier this year had ordered the Roma leave by mid-June, with a
two-month grace period for those with children. On the 8th
of October, the prefecture called a meeting on how best to proceed
evicting the settlement members – no Roma were invited to attend.
After police warnings, the tenants were ordered out on the morning of
the 15th and their homes were bulldozed within an hour. As
of the time of the article, many Roma were waiting outside the
mayor's office but he refused to meet with anyone regarding the
evictions.
While it is within a governing body's
rights to say who can lawfully stay on public property, this action
has violated France's human rights obligations, which state that
families with children should not be left homeless after evictions.
This is only the latest in an ongoing series of evictions and legal
actions targeting Roma living in France. Unfortunately, this is not
the only place where this happens – Roma today face hostility in
most parts of Europe (notably in Ireland as well as France). They
have very little legal protection, as they are most frequently not
citizens of the given place they are residing, and they face
institutionalized oppression almost everywhere they go. Luckily,
Amnesty International is doing all it can to raise awareness to the
issue, but unfortunately there are little tangible results so far.
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