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French expulsion of Roma shatters European values

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The French policy of expelling Roma migrants is breaking into pieces the European values in front of their eyes, said Bulgarian Roma activist Rumyan Russinov in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Romanian Roma people arrive from France in Bucharest, capital of Romania, Sept. 14, 2010. About 230 Romanian Roma people arrived from France in Bucharest on Tuesday. France has deported more than 1,000 Roma people to Bulgaria and Romania since last month. [Gabriel Petrescu/Xinhua]

"Europe was established on the fundamental principle of free movement of goods, people and capitals but at the moment this fundamental principle is put under a big question,"said Russinov, director of the Public Policy Advocacy Center.

Even France that raised the principle of freedom, equality and fraternity during the Revolution is breaking it now with these actions, Russinov added.

Although he was "really worried that Europe is in a very complicated situation," he expressed optimism that the European idea is very good, very powerful idea and "it must go on."

Commenting the statements that France's repatriation of Roma can be compared to the expulsion of the Jews and the Roma during the World War II, Russinov said that, unfortunately there is a reason and arguments to make a parallel between them.

He emphasized that the current "scandal" is related to people that are innocent and they are repatriated only because they are Roma.

According to Russinov, it is obvious that the French government tries to find any reason to point out these people as violating the laws, and as criminals.

On the other hand, Russinov insisted that the people repatriated in the first and in the second wave were working people who never committed any crimes despite the fact that some of them, not being registered by their employers, have been working illegally. "But this is more applicable to their French employers than themselves, and it must be clear that these people go there looking for a job," the Roma activist said.

Russinov also was afraid that there is an anti-Roma wave, anti- Roma speaking and anti-Roma thinking coming up in the West European countries.

"We can put this question in some wider context -- as reinforced anti-immigrant attitude because there are immigrants from different developing countries,"he said.

Russinov pointed out that the Roma issue came from the French internal political context."Sarkozy needed a strong push for his pre-election campaign, and the victim was carefully determined -- the Roma, the weakest point,"he said, adding "This point has a potential to produce more significant effect so Sarkozy will get bigger support in France."

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