Protest
after France Expels Two Immigrant Children
Summary
All of France has recently been shocked after a 19
year old American student, and a 15 year old Kosovo girl were taken off of the
school bus by the police so that she could then meet up with her family and be
sent back to Kosovo. Many students protests, along with adults and also called
for the resignation of the interior minister. The minister, who is known as
Manuel Vall, is a member of the Socialist government of President Francois
Hollande, and he has been a strong proponent in particular of deporting of
Roma. However he has also been known to remove others who lack proper
immigration papers, a policy which has also been followed by the previous
government, which had been led by conservatives. On Thursday afternoon, however
the government began to view Mr. Valls differently, and questioned his judgment
after he allowed the police to pull these children off of the bus to be deported.
Many were finding it shocking that the police went to this extreme, as to
pulling a child off her bus in front of her classmates. Many of the classmates
were left confused and worried about the poor child, feeling as though maybe
she had done something wrong or was a criminal. The Kosovar girl was shadowed
with the racial politics of France. However the case of Khatchik Kachatryan was
not and he was deported Saturday, October 12th. Majority of the
people from the government, Mr. Hallande were expected to adopt a much less
confrontational approach to France troubles, however there seems to be no
difference. Mr. Valls has been very outspoken throughout this difficult time in
France that Roma immigrants pose. He has even said rude remarks such as “the
majority must be returned to the border” or “only a minority” of Roma can be integrated
into the French society. His remarks shocked many people, but the protestors of
this situation still stand strong.
This article is very shocking, and the way that the
police handled this is disturbing. No child should have to go through something
like this. The Kosovar girl probably felt a sense of embarrassment, as well as
confusion about what was going on. I feel as though this situation could have
been handled much differently. I understand that immigrants must have the
proper paper work, in order to migrate, however in a situation in which
children are involved, I think that things should be thought through more. Her
parents were not able to do anything to stop this situation; it is as if they
were helpless. I feel that the protestors are right for standing strong about
this. The only thing they can do is display how they feel, and that it was
wrong, no other way around it. The child’s teachers even decided to write
letters, helping prevent this from ever happening again. They feel as if the
child is able to fully comprehend others, and speak fluently, and is learning
well then she should have been left alone.
Courtney Brown
October 18, 2013
1:30 pm
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