Talking point: Roma expulsions

France faces international criticism for dismantling Roma camps and expelling Roma people. But French public opinion supports the move. We asked the views of two MEPs, from the ruling Socialist party and from the French Left. The President and the Interior Minister decided to close a number of camps where living conditions were deplorable. I’m from Lyon and familiar with the local point of view – I’m a local representative – and I’ve been able to gauge the great precariousness of a number of facilities. You'd not expect this of a Leftist government. The emotion that this sparked, particularly in organisations used to working with these issues, demonstrates a certain incomprehension. These camps create difficulties with neighbours; you have to face the reality. It’s difficult for the people living in these camps but also – even if less so – for the people living next to them. We have to find a collective solution. We must deconstruct all these stereotypes including the nomadic nature of the Roma. We know today that the majority of these people, especially those coming from Hungary and Romania, are sedentary. The problem of the Roma is above all a problem of poverty and precariousness. That’s primarily what we have to sort out from a common point of view within the EU. These people are discriminated against, they are the poorest of the poor, the most vulnerable of the vulnerable. The state of a democracy is assessed by how it treats the most vulnerable populations.

EuroparlTV video ID: a5c6f3cc-f63e-4869-a101-a0c1010e402f