Francois Hollande was inaugurated President of France on May
15, 2012. He swept his Socialist Party to an overwhelming majority in the
France Parliament in June elections. He had the power and will to carry out his campaign promises.
He promised to lower the salaries of the president and
staff, remove French forces from Afghanistan, raise the top income tax rate to
75% on incomes over 1 million Euros, reinstate the lower retirement age of 60, raise
the minimum wage, and hire 60,000 new teachers.
He kept most of these promises, with results similar to
President Obama’s.
And he would fight the European concentration on austerity
through a pro-growth policy while reigning in the budget deficit. He would find
$40 billion in savings and tax increases to lower the deficit to 3%.
The math, of course, does not add up.
He would become a “normal” president unlike his flamboyant
predecessor, Nickolas Sarkozy.
And he would not dismantle the Roma camps unless alternative
accommodations were available.
The condition of the existing camps in the open countryside is
unworthy of a civilized nation: rat infested, no electricity, and no running
water. About 15,000 Roma, who are not French citizens, live in France.
The reality is that the French economy showed a 0% economic
growth in the second quarter while the unemployment rate exceeds 10%. In
addition, the French auto industry, which employs 10% of the French workforce,
is hemorrhaging. Peugeot wishes to close a large plant outside Paris and lay
off 10,000 workers. The 35 hour workweek also makes for an uncompetitive
economy.
Under the European Union’s Schenger agreement Bulgarians and
Romanians can come to France for no more than 3 months unless they have
obtained work or education visas.
Under a statute enacted in 2007 Roma are not allowed to work
in France. Many are uneducated. Thus, France can legally deport them.
The President, who won by a landslide, had a short
honeymoon, being shortened by the new “normal” president borrowing for his
vacation a luxury yacht owned by a French billionaire. He was down to a 54%
unpopularity rate after 100 days in office. The youth are rioting in Amiens.
The living conditions of the poor, especially the North Africans, are
unsanitary and unhealthy.
What to do? What to do?
Then President Sarkozy attempted to divert public attention
away from his woes in 2010 by destroying Roma camps and deporting the Roma to
Bulgaria and Romania. The French actions met with universal criticism and
outrage by European human rights advocates.
The Roma have historically been the second most despised
population in Europe after the Jews. Their image in most of Europe is that of
gypsies, tramps, and thieves. They were also the second largest victims of the
Holocaust. (I previously blogged the plight of the Roma on August 5, 2010).
So what is President Hollande to do?
The answer is to emulate President Sarkozy and strike out
against the Roma.
One President was a conservative, and the other is a
socialist, but the Roma are the Roma.
The French government bulldozed several Roma camps last week
outside Paris, Lille, and Lyon. Scores of Roma were deported to Romania.
The French government never referred to the camps as Roma,
but as “illicit encampments” which posed a threat to the public health and
safety.
Several Roma fled in advance of the bulldozers to the woods,
which are now their “alternative housing.”
A 23 year old Roma mother of two, who panhandles at the
Eifel Tower to survive, said “I want something else for my children. I want a
different future.”
The Roma are still searching after 1,000 years of wandering.
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