Romani people in France

French Romanis
Total population
est. 500.000
Regions with significant populations
Alsace, Aquitaine, Île-de-France, Languedoc-Roussillon, Lorraine, Midi-Pyrénées, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Rhône-Alpes
Languages
French, Spanish, Romani, Sinti-Manouche, Erromintxela
Related ethnic groups
Romani people
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Guitar player Django Reinhardt.
Ritual bath in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, a shrine associated with Romani people.
A seal on a document on the Montreuil-Bellay "nomad concentration camp (1943).

French Romani people are generally known in spoken French as "Tsiganes". The French typically classify the Romani in their country into three groups: "Roms," referring to Romani who come from territories from eastern Europe; "Manouches," also known as "Sinté," who often have familial ties in Germany and Italy; and "Gitans," who trace their familial ties to Romani in Spain.[1] The term "Romanichel" is considered pejorative, and "Bohémien" is outdated. The French National Gendarmerie tends to refer to "MENS" ("Minorités Ethniques Non-Sédentarisées"), a neutral administrative term meaning "Travelling Ethnic Minorities".

Approximately 400,000 Romani live in France as part of established communities. Additionally, the French Romani rights group FNASAT reports that at least 12,000 Romani, who have illegally immigrated from Romania and Bulgaria, live in unofficial urban camps throughout the country. French authorities often close down these encampments. In 2009, the government sent more than 10,000 Romani back to Romania and Bulgaria.[2]

In 2009, the European Committee of Social Rights found France had violated the European Social Charter (rights to housing, right to protection against poverty and social exclusion, right of the family to protection) in respect to its Romani population.[3]

Repatriations

In 2010 and 2011, the French government organized repatriation flights to send Romani back to Romania. On 12 April a chartered flight carrying 160 Romani left northern France for Timisoara. As in the 2010 deportations, the French government gave those Romani leaving France 300 euros each, with 100 euros for each child. The Romani on the 12 April flight had each signed declarations that they would never return to France.[4] On 9 August, the city of Marseille in southern France forcibly evicted 100 Romani people from their makeshift camp near Porte d’Aix, giving them 24 hours to leave.[5] A chartered flight carrying approximately 150 Romani to Romania left the Lyon area on 20 September.[6] France’s goal for 2011 was to deport 30,000 Romani to their home country.[7] As of 2012, France sent about 8,000 Romani back to Romania and Bulgaria in 2011, after dismantling illegal camps where they were living on the outskirts of cities. The actions prompted controversy and calls for greater inclusion of Romani people.[8]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Roma people in France.

References

  1. ↑ Liégeois, Jean-Pierre. Roma, tsiganes, voyageurs. Council of Europe, 1994.
  2. ↑ "Q&A: France Roma expulsions". BBC News. 19 August 2010. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  3. ↑ ECSR decision on complaint no. 51/2008
  4. ↑ "France resumes deportations of Roma people from Romania". Czech Press Agency (Romea.cz). 13 April 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  5. ↑ Ira, Kumaran (11 August 2011). "Marseille mayor orders mass expulsion of Roma camp". World Socialist Web Site (International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI)). Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  6. ↑ "France: One Year On, New Abuses against Roma". Human Rights Watch. 28 September 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  7. ↑ Bran, Mirel (12 October 2011). "France's Immigration Chief Revisits the Roma Expulsion Issue, in Romania". Le Monde (Worldcrunch). Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  8. ↑ "France to tackle Roma problem at home", Balkan Insight