By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife
BUDAPEST/BUCHAREST (BosNewsLife)– Romania has expressed concern about the deportations of Gypsies, or Roma, from France, saying it could lead to “xenophobic reactions”. Friday’s statement came as French authorities put some 100Roma, on a charter flight headed to their native Romania after expelling scores of others on Thursday.
As hundreds of deported Roma, were expected to arrive in Romania from France on Friday and the coming days, Romanian President Traian Basescu expressed concern about the situation.
In a statement, he said Romania “understands the position of the French government.” But Mr. Basescu stressed Romania also supports “unconditionally the right of every Romanian citizen to travel without restrictions within the European Union” as his country is an EU member state.
These concerns are shared by the EU’s executive body, the European Commission said spokesman Matthew Newman.
“We are obviously, very concerned about any form of discrimination, our policies is always to promote full integration of the Roma population in Europe. Let me just remind that Roma people are just like any Europeans people, they are full European citizens, they have the right to free movement anywhere in the EU,” said Newman. “…These are the rights that they have and they need to be respected. And all member states need ensure that these rights are respected.”
VATICAN CONCERNED
The Vatican, rights groups and the Council of Europe have also criticized the massive expulsions of Roma. Authorities in France say the deportations are part of an effort by conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy to dismantle what they call “illegal” Roma camps.
They have pledged to give each adult $386 and each child $128 to help them get back on their feet in their home country, if they leave without resistance.
With no signs of France backing down, Romanian President Basescu has offered to send police to help in the careful repatriation of Roma, who have been described as among Europe’s most discriminated and impoverished people.
Talking to reporters, expelled Roma expressed concerns about their future in Romania.
One man, who was not indentified apparently for security fears, said he studied for 10 years and has a diploma. Yet, he claimed, he will only earn 250 euro, about $317 (U.S.) per month in Romania.
Roma are also expected to be expelled to Bulgaria.
Although Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007, the French government says Roma should show work permits and prove they can support themselves if they stay in France for more than 90 days. (BosNewsLife’s NEWS WATCH is a regular look at key general news developments, especially related to (former) Communist nations and other autocratic countries impacting the Church and/or compassionate professionals. This BosNewsLife News story also airs via its affiliated Voice of America (VOA) network).
Romanians and Roma are two distinct ethnic groups.
The Gypsies or Roma are a migratory people. They are originally from the Indian subcontinent and settled in Europe hundreds of years ago. They live as minorities in most European countries and not only in Romania. They never fully integrated in the European countries they live despite efforts made by EU countries on that direction. Many Gypsies deal with begging and stealing, and France’s decision to expel them was because of that.
On the other hand, Romanian people has as ancestors the Latin speaking colonists of the former Roman Empire who inhabited the land of today Romania. Romanians are almost 90% of the total population of Romania. Most of Romanians are hard working and law abiding people.
“Roma” is a relatively recent term adopted by Gypsies and it is confusing since it is close to “Romanians” even if Roma and Romanians are two distinct ethnic groups. This confusion of terms has been often made due to ignorance or worse than that, it was made on purpose to discredit Romania.
After reading the above article, one might think that all citizens of Romania are Roma, which is not true. Roma represent a small percentage of the total population of Romania.