France wants Romania to integrate Roma people

France continues paying Roma with 300 euro in order to make them return to Romania, according to the new chief of the French Office of Immigration and Integration, Arno Klarsfeld, who is on an official visit to Romania.

Arno Klarsfeld visited the Ferentari neighbourhood in Bucharest on Monday and on Tuesday went to Timişoara to support several projects designed to integrate Roma after they return home.

The authorities of Paris will launch 80 such projects next year, according to the new chief of the French Office of Immigration and Integration.

Arno Klarsfeld suggested the Romanian authorities to use the European funds specifically allocated to Roma, but insisted that Roma should too make efforts to integrate themselves into society.

The new chief of the French Office of Immigration and Integration defended the actions France had taken in the Roma matter and explained that France was simply making efforts to send Roma back to Romania in order for latter to have a better life and no longer live in cartoon houses on the outskirts of the French cities.

Arno Klarsfeld underlined that France would not allow Roma to set up camps again on its territory.

The chief of the French Office of Immigration and Integration stated that Roma were a European population that had been persecuted for a long period of time and that Europe had the obligation to integrate them.

According to the French representative, in order for this to happen the 17 billion euro that have not been spent yet and are blocked in Brussels should be used.

"France cannot tolerate the crimes committed by Roma"

Arno Klarsfeld emphasised that France could not tolerate the crimes committed by Roma and explained why the French Minister of Internal Affairs called the Roma criminals Romanian people.

"The French Minister of Internal Affairs is cautious. He knows that he must not stigmatise people because of their ethnicity and should not call them by their ethnicity but by their nationality and Romania must understand that Roma are Romanian people too and must do everything in its power to keep this population here."

"France cannot accept Roma networks of prostitutes and also beggars who victimise their children on its territory. France will take a stand and the laws for stopping this phenomenon will be strengthened without any doubt", Arno Klarsfeld stated.

After visiting the Ferentari neighbourhood in Bucharest, the chief of the French Office of Immigration and Integration, Arno Klarsfeld, said that the Roma leaders were partially responsible for the lack of integration of Roma.

"At the same time, Roma have to make efforts to integrate themselves. I have seen families with seven or eight children that live in one room. It is not possible to give birth to so many children when you live in only one room and have nothing to give them. These are things that cannot be spelled out loud, but everybody knows them", Arno Klarsfeld stated.

The chief of the French Office of Immigration and Integration explained that France would assess together with the Romanian authorities the efficiency of the Roma integration projects and if they resulted in Roma no longer leaving Romania, they would be extended.

Translated by: Raluca Mizdrea
MA Student, MTTLC, Bucharest University