Bloomberg : Sarkozy to Shut Illegal French Squatters Camps, Deport Roma After Riot

French President Nicolas Sarkozy will shut down squatters camps in a crackdown on French migrants and Roma immigrants.

Authorities will close half of the illegal squats of migrants, about 300, in the next three months and will deport Roma convicted of crimes, Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said after a meeting with Sarkozy and law-enforcement officials.

Today’s meeting at the Elysee Palace followed the destruction July 18 of a police station that was stormed by about 50 migrants in the Cher region, central France. The rioters were protesting the death of a 22-year-old shot by police. The groups that represent them were not invited to the gathering.

The migrants, known as “travelling people” or “gens du voyage” in French, mainly comprise French nationals. The Roma people are groups of nomads that come from Eastern Europe, mainly Romania, and are more commonly known as gypsies.

Sarkozy’s focus on law enforcement drew criticism from civil-rights advocates. “The president chose to racially stigmatize the Roma and the travelling people,” the French Human Rights League said in a statement on its website. It blamed him for attempting “ethnically targeted deportations.”

The National Federation of Associations in Support of Travelling People estimates that there are between 400,000 and 500,000 “travelling people” and 15,000 to 20,000 Roma in France today.

“It is not the government’s intention to stigmatize any community,” Luc Chatel, the government spokesman told reporters. “But there are certain behaviors by certain members of the community that are unacceptable.”

Sarkozy’s meeting included the justice and immigration ministers as well as the European affairs Minister Pierre Lellouche, police chiefs and other security officials.