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The much expected immigration summit of several EU countries and Canada in Paris has made no mention of the recent campaign of the French government to crack down on Roma immigrants from Bulgaria and Romania.
The Roma issue, including the deportation of Roma squatters to their home countries, which caused much uproar around Europe and brought much international criticism for French President Nicolas Sarkozy, was not mentioned once during the discussions of Monday's immigration summit in Paris, and was not included in the concluding document of the meeting, reported the correspondent of the Bulgarian channel bTV.
At a news conference after the summit, however, French Immigration Minister Eric Besson practically denied the existence of a "Roma deportation".
"France remains faithful to the principles of humanity," Besson is quoted as saying while also pointing out that France approached with much caution every single case of Roma migrants making sure that its authorities abide by EU law and local law.
Besson will be making a visit to the Romanian capital Bucharest on September 9 and 10, 2010, where the Roma issue will be discussed.
When asked about Bulgaria's position with respect to the expulsion of the Roma people, the French immigration minister declared that France had no issues with the Bulgarian state, and that the Bulgarian authorities had made it clear they did not have problems with the actions of the French government.
While denying the claims that the French state has initiated a mass deportation of Roma, Besson did say that there is an acceleration of the rate at which Roma migrants leave France. However, he emphasized the fact that they depart voluntarily, in exchange for allowances.
The immigration summit in Paris included participants of 6 EU nations (France, Germany, Italy, UK, Greece, and Belgium, which holds the rotating EU Presidency) and Canada. The fact that the European Commission was not invited to it generated much criticism. As it was originally expected to discuss in detail the Roma expulsion, critics had stated Bulgaria and Romania had to be present as well.
During Monday's summit, the governments of the seven nations agreed to adopt faster procedures for dealing with illegal immigrants whose immigration or refugee status requests have been turned down.
The press conference was attended by Besson, as well as by Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, Canada's Interior Minister Jason Kennedy, and senior government officials from Greece, the UK, Germany and Belgium.
Maroni pointed out the need for unified EU efforts to crack down on the influx of illegal immigrants from North Africa and Turkey.
Canada's representative said the meeting was very useful because the illegal immigration threatened his country's immigration system. He pointed out that in 2009 Canada ranked third globally in asylum requests after the USA and France.
At the meantime, a rally before the French Embassy in Romania's capital Bucharest proteting the Roma expulsion by France and designed to coincide with the Paris summit brought together only 50 people - about as many as the reporters covering it.
Bulgarian critics of France's Roma expulsion policies had been skeptical about the outcome of the immigration summit in Paris. Bulgaria has welcomed so far 26 Roma deported from France, but was not invited to the forum.
Bulgaria's government has been keeping a low profile over France's Roma crackdown, apparently fearing that tension with Paris might put at risk its Schengen accession.
The country hopes to join the EU's border-free zone by the end of 2011 as scheduled and the official line is that recent expulsions of mostly Romanian and Bulgarian Roma from France is irrelevant to that process.
The local media however, where the deportation made front-page news, have accused the government of shying away from an open confrontation with France, for fear this could jeopardize its Schengen accession, touted as one of the main priorities of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.
The harshest criticism of the expulsion of Roma from France came in an article in the Sega newspaper, which called it "the biggest mass deportation after the Second World War."
Most commentators condemned the action of France and said the measures have shown that more developed nations such as France are not in a position to cope with the Roma problem.
Instead of looking for a pan-European solution, the summit in Paris will contribute to the complete ghettoization of the Bulgarian Roma, media fears.
The Bulgarian press has also targeted its critical comments at the European Commission, blaming it for hypocrisy and double standards over its muted involvement in the affair.
France has repatriated around 600 mostly Romanian Roma since announcing plans in late July to demolish hundreds of illegal Roma camps as part of a crackdown on crime.
Flight reservations indicate France wants to move back at least 41 Bulgarian Roma in August and September. Vessela Tscherneva, a spokeswoman for the foreign ministry, said a maximum 50 people were expected to return.
As French Immigration Minister Besson made it clear after the Paris Summit on Monday, the French government time and again demonstrated it is reluctant to style its actions as "deportation", saying that Roma people are leaving the country by mutual agreement and for a compensation (EUR 300 per adult, EUR 100 per child), and also retain the right to return whenever they might wish.
Roma from Romania and Bulgaria are allowed free passage into France if they are European Union citizens. After that, however, they must find work, start studies, or find some other way of becoming established in France or risk deportation.
At the beginning of August, France began a high-profile campaign of dismantling large numbers of illegal Roma camps in a move announced by President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The mass expulsions have drawn criticism from the international community, the Vatican and the UN. During the past week, European Commission also criticized France saying it did not put enough emphasis on individual circumstances.
Sarkozy also faces opposition from his own cabinet with Prime Minister Francois Fillon hinting he disliked the crude links being made between foreigners and crime, while Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said he considered resigning over the issue.
The deportations saw 1 000 Roma returned to Romania and Bulgaria last month while 11 000 were expelled from France last year, according to BBC.
France insists the deportations are not contradicting EU laws, including the free movement of people.
Under EU rules, the State can expel people who have been in the country for at least three months without a job and/or are deemed to be a threat to public security.
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