Assessment for Roma in France

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Risk Assessment | Analytic Summary | References

Risk Assessment

There is no indication that the Roma in France will become engaged in militant activities as they lack the risk factors of groups prone to rebellions such as consistent protest in the past, territorial concentration, regime instability and high levels of cohesion. Further factors inhibiting Roma rebellion include location under a democratic regime and low incidence of conflict in bordering states. As a group, they are often misrepresented as the Roma are an amalgamated group of different people, including the Sinti, Maouches (Manus) and Roms in France. They are unorganized and uninterested in dealing with the French government.

There is the possibility for an increase in the levels of protest despite the fact that the group does not possess many of the risk factors that lead to protests, such as cultural and political restrictions and support from outside groups. The group, however, does face some cultural constraints as the French government has regulated some aspects of the group’s nomadic characteristics, requiring nomadic peoples to carry carnets de circulation, traveling documents that require frequent renewal. It should be noted that the group, while not frequently a target of repression, has faced some repression in recent years.

The Romani are extremely poor and are excluded from the French society. They are viewed as a marginal sub-class of beggars, thieves and pickpockets who neither work nor pay taxes, and hence do not belong in French society. Also, as is the case elsewhere, the prejudices against the Roma in France fuel the social conditions that lead to the justifications for those prejudices. Recently these prejudices have entered the political arena through various right-wing parties. If the Roma face increased discrimination and repression, protests may begin. While it is possible that protests may begin, it appears that the Roma throughout Europe prefer to move to a new location when repression or discrimination become intolerable rather than to stay to protest their situation, which may also be linked to their general lack of cohesion as an ethnic group.

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Analytic Summary

The Roma (called Tsiganes or Gitans, although this refers more specifically to Roma from Spain it is sometimes employed more generally in French) are believed to have originated in India. They first arrived in France in the early 1400s and have since spread throughout the country looking for the best possible economic opportunities while attempting to avoid harassment and discrimination. As a result the Roma are not highly concentrated within a territory (GROUPCON = 0), and they do not form a cohesive group. Compared to the majority group, the Roma speak a different language (LANG= 1) and follow different customs, the most notable of which is the nomadic lifestyle led by the Manouches (CUSTOM = 1). The Roma are easily identifiable due to their different physical appearance (RACE = 1), and it is this racial difference, and the long history of prejudice against the group, which has led to discriminatory treatment.

The Roma currently face moderate demographic disadvantages due mostly to their very high birth rate in comparison to the rest of France. Other demographic pressures may include the recent and large influx of Roma from Yugoslavia and other areas of Eastern Europe to France. This increase in Roma immigration has only increased the tension between the group and the majority. Between 2001 and 2003, French authorities have become more vigorous in their efforts to deport illegal Roma immigrants back to Eastern Europe.

The Roma are basically excluded from the French society. Politically they are ignored, and therefore while there are no restrictions against the group, they are not recognized as French citizens (POLDIS06 = 3). The Roma are also excluded economically due to social practices rather than formal policy (ECDIS06 = 3), and as a result they are extremely poor. Sources of economic disadvantages are not only social but are also linked to educational constraints. For example, the nomadic Roma, due to difficulty in accessing education while traveling, face difficulty in assimilating with the French as their levels of French grammar and fluency may not be adequate in the French workforce. While there are no cultural restrictions, there are also no measures in place to bring them into society. The problem is not wholly the fault of national government, however. For as long as the Tsiganes remain nomadic and do not pay taxes (a fundamental condition of citizenship) it is difficult to provide them with the same social benefits - such as education and health care - to which other citizens are entitled. However, it should be noted that the French have instituted programs to ensure the education of Roma children by requiring parents to enroll their children temporarily in a local school while traveling. Laws also require a teacher’s signature as proof of the child’s attendance. This has not met with resounding success as the illiteracy rate of Roma is estimated to be around 90%. Unlike the Roma in other European countries, the French government has left the group alone, and they generally do not face any overt repression. However, in 2005 arrests of Roma linked to thievery rings or baby trafficking did occur. Additionally, in 2006, a French mayor set an illegal, but empty, Roma camp on fire (REPGENCIV05=3; REPGENCIV06=4). There are also some restrictions on movement. French law requires persons without a fixed residence, generally Roma, to carry a carnet de circulation, which must be renewed every three months. There also have been no reports of communal conflict between the group and right-wing French or West Africans (INTERCON01-04 = 0; INTERCON06 = 0). However, tension between Roma in Southern France and North Africans arose following the beating death of a North African, thought to have been carried out by Roma (INTERCON05 = 1).

Due to their somewhat nomadic existence and small numbers, there are no organizations which represent the Roma in France specifically. Any lobbying which is done on their behalf is accomplished by international organizations such as the International Union Romani, or the European Roma Rights Center. Both of these organizations attempt to pressure the government to address grievances by the group, and report any repressive activities the Roma face throughout Europe. The Roma in France, as mentioned, have kept to themselves, and it appears that they want as little interaction with the French government as possible. Their only grievances are that it is currently difficult for Romani children to attend schools and that laws on asylum seekers- which many of the Roma arriving from Central and Eastern Europe are claiming to be- are considered by the group as being too rigid. With the admission of Poland into the EU in 2004, France, among other countries, announced that it would not welcome asylum seekers (who are largely Roma) with open arms, whereas Great Britain had plans to accept them.

The Roma have not been engaged in any form of militant activity in the past, and this continues to be true today (REB00-06 = 0). It has only been recently when any form of organized protest has been seen by the group (PROT98 = 2). While there are annual religious ceremonies celebrating the patron saint of the Roma, St. Sarah, which bring together large numbers of Roma from all over Europe, sometimes as many as 10-15,000, little protest has been reported in the last several years (PROT00 = 0, PROT01-02 = 1, PROT03-06 = 0).

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References

“France: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.” US Department of State. 2004- 2006.

Lexis-Nexis news reports, 1990- 2006.

Liegeois, Jean-Pierre and Nicolae Gheorghe. “Roma/Gypsies: A European Minority..” Minority Rights Group International. 1995.

“Roma/Gypsies: A European Minority.” Minority Rights Group International. 1995.

Safran, William. The Mitterrand Regime and Its Policies of Ethnocultural Accommodation. Comparative Politics, Vol. 18, No. 1. (Oct., 1985), pp. 41-63.

Williams, Patrick. Gypsy World: The Silence of the Living and the Voices of the Dead. University of Chicago: Chicago, 2003.

Ringold, Dena et. al. Roma in an Expanding Europe: Breaking the Poverty Cycle. The World Bank: Washington, DC, 2005.

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