Roma protest

French travellers in the Bordeaux region on Sunday were blocked at the Aquitaine bridge by 250 vehicles manned by 140 families from a Roma community that were protesting after the mayor refused to allow them to park at a camp site in the Bordeaux-Lac zone.

According to the BBC the blockade caused tailbacks of five kilometres on the Paris-bound carriageway of the A630.

These events took place the same week that the French government put into action its plan to close down Roma camps and to send community members back to Romania and Bulgaria. It represents the first major counter protest by the Roma population to the government’s plans to evict them.

It has been reported that in the last 15 days over 40 camps have been shut down and 700 people are expected to be flown out of the country.

The interior minister, Brice Hortefeux, has said that the action is not intended to “stigmatize a community [but] that it is about ensuring that laws are respected.”  

The French governments action has been sharply criticized by human rights NGOs and members of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

The French Human Rights League (HRL) and the National Federation of Associations for Solidarity Action with Roma and Travelling People (FNASAT) have both publically condoned the government for its Roma policy.

Despite numerous legal instruments, France is facing “a notable resurgence in racism and xenophobia,” Togolese expert of the UN committee Ewomsan Kokou said.

President Nicolas Sarkozy announced the new measures after violence erupted between Roma rioters and the French police in Saint-Aignan back in July. During the altercation a Roma youth was shot dead by a police officer.

The government has defended its action saying that it is a matter of national security and that it is within its rights under EU legal framework to deport immigrants that present a social burden to the state.