A while ago, the European Commission threatened legal action against France for the mass expulsion of Roma people. Viviane Reding, the EC's Justice Commissioner, demanded evidence that racist motives were not being employed, and that the Roma people were not being expelled on the grounds of ethnicity. Having looked into the matter, she then decided that France has adhered to the safeguards stipulated by the EU directive.
So far, France has expelled more than 1,000 Bulgarian and Romanian Roma people, using police raids to get them to leave. Events have been compared to WWII even by Reding herself, who has now reneged and decided that there can't possibly be a racist motive for expelling an ethnic group from a country...
President Sarkozy insists that he has the right to expel jobless Roma who are unable to look after themselves. This is the kind of thing that can be applied to people who aren't Roma as well, and therefore on the surface of it doesn't seem to be racially motivated. However, the definition of this right seems to be that each case must be looked at individually - and you can't wipe out entire populations of an ethnic group whilst simultaneously insisting that you're taking each individual into account.
Sarkozy also said that the Roma people move into an area and prompty promote 'breeding grounds for prostitution, people trafficking and child exploitation'. Lots of people would say that's not a racist thing to say. But, like I always say with statements like this, turn it around. Replace the word 'Roma' with the word 'black' or 'Jewish', and you'll see that it really is racist and unacceptable.
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