Archives de catégorie : droit des étrangers

droit des étrangers, reconduite à la frontière et OQTF

confusion et controverse

20080715184326!Rep_lorrain 14/09/2010

Le ministre de l’Immigration Eric Besson assure ne pas avoir eu connaissance de la circulaire visant les Roms et émanant du ministre de l’Intérieur Brice Hortefeux, qui a rédigé un nouveau texte pour calmer les critiques.

Le gouvernement se retrouve à nouveau au centre des critiques pour avoir émis une circulaire ciblant explicitement les Roms. Visiblement gêné, le ministre de l’Immigration Eric Besson a assuré hier n’avoir pas eu connaissance de la consigne donnée par le ministère de l’Intérieur aux préfets, après deux jours de tollé.

Brice Hortefeux a signé hier une nouvelle circulaire aux préfets sur les évacuations de campements illicites, sans mention de l’ethnie des occupants. Ce nouveau texte administratif demande de «  poursuivre » les évacuations de camps «  quels qu’en soient les occupants ». Cette circulaire, que Hortefeux a «  tenu à signer personnellement » est destinée à «  lever tout malentendu sur une éventuelle stigmatisation » des Roms, a déclaré l’entourage du ministre.

Daté du 5 août

Le président du Gisti (Groupe d’information et de soutien des immigrés) Stéphane Maugendre a estimé que cela «  ne retirera rien au caractère discriminatoire des pratiques des préfectures et des services de police à l’égard des communautés Roms. On enlève le mot « Rom » mais les pratiques continuent », a-t-il déploré.

Dans la circulaire datée du 5 août, la place Beauvau rappelait les instructions données fin juillet par le président Nicolas Sarkozy. «  Trois cents campements ou implantations illicites devront avoir été évacués d’ici trois mois, en priorité ceux des Roms », écrivait Michel Bart, le directeur de cabinet de Brice Hortefeux.

De son côté, le ministre de l’Immigration a cherché à justifier la politique du gouvernement, sans se prononcer sur la circulaire du 5 août : «  Je n’avais pas connaissance de cette circulaire », a déclaré Eric Besson.

Niant toute «  divergence » avec Brice Hortefeux, Eric Besson a toutefois pris implicitement ses distances avec le ministère de l’Intérieur, citant Nicolas Sarkozy : «  Le président de la République, dans son discours de Grenoble, a lui-même rappelé, après avoir demandé le démantèlement des camps illicites, […] qu’en aucun cas on ne puisse stigmatiser les Roms. »

Hier, le porte-parole du Parti socialiste Benoît Hamon s’est dit «  choqué » par ce document. «  Nous trouvons affligeant que cette circulaire existe », a-t-il déclaré. A l’Onu, le haut commissaire aux Droits de l’Homme Navi Pillay a jugé «  préoccupante » la nouvelle politique du gouvernement français. «  Cela ne peut qu’exacerber la stigmatisation des Roms et l’extrême pauvreté dans laquelle ils vivent », a-t-elle souligné.

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droit des étrangers, reconduite à la frontière et OQTF

Roms. Stéphane Maugendre « Ce texte organise une véritable traque »

 Entretien réalisé par Émilie Rive, 14/09/2010

Pour Stéphane Maugendre (Gisti), «un nouveau pas dans le déni du droit» a été franchi.

Vous jugez 
la circulaire du 5 août discriminatoire. Pourquoi ?

Stéphane Maugendre. Ce texte demande aux préfets de procéder à une discrimination en raison de l’appartenance à une ethnie ou à une communauté. C’est complètement illégal. C’est comme si on donnait ordre à la police d’arrêter des gens en raison de leur appartenance religieuse ou de leur couleur de peau. Ce qui ne veut pas dire, pour le dernier cas, qu’ils ne le font pas. Mais ce n’est pas écrit.

Éric Besson dit qu’il n’était pas au courant…

Stéphane Maugendre. J’ai du mal à 
le croire, même si je n’ai aucune certitude sur le sujet. Nous aurions un ministre de l’Intérieur qui intervient dans le domaine de son collègue sans le lui dire ? La circulaire est adressée aux préfets, qui doivent rendre compte au ministre de l’Immigration des mesures d’éloignement et de leur nombre. La défense d’Éric Besson, qui dit qu’on ne lui parle que des Roumains, est un peu simpliste. Tous ces indices font penser qu’il ne pouvait l’ignorer.

Vous déposez un recours devant le Conseil d’État. N’est-ce pas un peu lent ?

Stéphane Maugendre. Nous déposons une demande d’annulation de la circulaire. Mais celle-ci est tellement attentatoire au droit que nous déposons aussi un référé suspension qui permettra au Conseil d’État de suspendre son application avant de statuer sur le fond. Nous envisageons aussi de saisir la Halde, voire une juridiction pénale. Nous ne voulons pas nous précipiter. Mais nous sommes atterrés. Le texte de cette circulaire organise une véritable traque. Ce gouvernement est tellement décomplexé qu’il est capable d’écrire d’aller faire la chasse aux Roms ! Il a franchi là un nouveau pas dans le déni du droit.

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droit des étrangers, reconduite à la frontière et OQTF

Brussels condemns

  S.Pignal, N.Tait, S.Daneshkhu, 14/09/2010

 

The European Union has condemned the French government over its treatment of Roma migrants, likening the episode to atrocities committed during the second world war.

In unusually strong criticism of an EU government, European Commission vice-president Viviane Reding said on Tuesday she was “personally appalled” by France’s behaviour, which she believed it was in breach of European law.

“This is a situation I thought Europe would not have to witness again after the second world war,” said Ms Reding, referring to Nazi Germany’s persecution of gypsies.
Ms Reding’s comments were backed by José Manuel Barroso, the Commission president, who had been criticised in recent weeks for a timid response to France’s action and for showing too much deference to one of the EU’s founding member states.
France said it was “astonished” by the criticism and that such comments would not help the situation. Ms Reding said Paris had broken EU law on the free movement of people in deporting about 8,000 Roma this year to Romania and Bulgaria as part of a crackdown on crime.
“We have learnt of Ms Reding’s criticisms with astonishment,” the French foreign ministry said. “This isn’t the time for this kind of polemic or such statements.”
Ms Reding said that France would be in violation of EU law if it targeted a certain group, or groups, on the basis of race or ethnic origin, and threatened legal action against Paris.
Ms Reding’s ire was triggered by revelations that the French interior ministry had in early August ordered local prefects to prioritise the evacuation of illegal Roma camps as part of a high-profile law and order campaign launched by President Nicolas Sarkozy in July.
Though the president had pledged to resolve “the problem of the Roma and other travelling people” with a crackdown on illegal camps, French ministers had assured Ms Reding on a visit to Brussels at the end of August that their programme had not targeted any ethnic group.
Nonetheless the interior ministry felt obliged on Monday to re-issue its original memo, this time leaving out any mention of prioritising Roma migrants.
Brice Hortefeux, interior minister, on Tuesday said the government was only evacuating camps that had been judged illegal by the courts. “We are not evacuating them because they are Roma but because they are illegal,” he said in response to questions in parliament. Since August 1 some 441 camps had been dismantled,
Human rights groups in France said they would continue to monitor the situation. “It is not just because they have withdrawn the circular that things will change,” said Stéphane Maugendre of the Information and Support for Immigrants group.
droit des étrangers, reconduite à la frontière et OQTF

Malgré le recul gouvernemental, les associations restent vigilantes

Les associations de défense des immigrés restaient vigilantes sur la politique de renvoi de Roms, malgré le retrait lundi par le gouvernement d’une circulaire visant explicitement cette minorité, un texte qui découle, selon elles, des discours répressifs du chef de l’Etat.

Le ministre de l’Intérieur Brice Hortefeux a signé lundi une nouvelle circulaire aux préfets sur les évacuations de campements illicites, sans mention de l’ethnie des occupants, après un tollé soulevé par une précédente circulaire datée du 5 août et visant explicitement les Roms.

Malgré cette nouvelle circulaire, la Commission européenne a annoncé mardi son intention de déclencher une procédure d’infraction en justice contre la France pour violation du droit européen dans l’affaire des renvois de Roms bulgares et roumains chez eux.

« Ce n’est pas parce que la circulaire est retirée que les pratiques vont changer », craint Stéphane Maugendre du Groupe d’information et de soutien des immigrés (Gisti). Pour lui, « les Roms ont été marqués du sceau du discours politique » de Nicolas Sarkozy à Grenoble le 30 juillet et dont cette circulaire est la « traduction réglementaire ». Avec ce texte, « les Roms sont ciblés auprès des préfets, des gendarmes et des policiers », accuse M. Maugendre.

Le Gisti, qui a renoncé à son recours en annulation devant le Conseil d’Etat après le recul de M. Hortefeux va, en revanche, « continuer d’examiner de possibles infractions pénales ayant été induites par l’application du texte entre le 5 août et la date de son remplacement ».

« Ce n’est pas parce que la circulaire a été retirée qu’elle n’a pas existé », argumente M. Maugendre. « Des camps ont été démantelés et des Roms ont été reconduits ». Ce qui, selon lui, « rend possibles des recours indemnitaires ».

Dans sa circulaire de lundi, M. Hortefeux a rappelé qu’il « a été procédé à l’évacuation de 441 campements illicites » depuis le 28 juillet » et que « cette action doit se poursuivre ».

Méfiant à l’égard du gouvernement, le Conseil représentatif des associations noires (Cran) a décidé de suspendre, mais sans y renoncer, son recours devant le Conseil d’Etat et ses projets d’une action pénale pour discrimination raciale.

« Le Cran s’indigne que le président de la République et le gouvernement se lancent dans une logique d’hostilité affichée envers les minorités visibles en ciblant ouvertement les Roms, les gens du voyage et bientôt dans les textes de loi, les +Français d’origine étrangère+ », allusion au projet de loi sur l’immigration.

Signataire de la circulaire annulée du 5 août, « le directeur de cabinet de Brice Hortefeux, Michel Bart, n’a finalement fait que traduire en actes écrits des discours tenus par l’exécutif », observe SOS Racisme.

« Cette circulaire a suivi de quelques jours la réunion tenue (le 28 juillet) à l’Elysée sur +les Roms et les gens du voyage+ et qui avait été l’occasion de mettre en scène un discours associant ces populations à des fauteurs de troubles et à annoncer le démantèlement des camps de Roms », accuse l’association.

« A Grenoble, on a franchi une frontière gravissime. On est passé à quelque chose d’impensable dans le discours politique », déplore Patrick Henriot du Syndicat de la magistrature. « Quand on arrive à ce niveau-là, il ne s’agit pas de prendre une nouvelle circulaire pour apaiser les consciences », selon le directeur général de SOS Racisme, Guillaume Aymé.

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droit des étrangers, Roms

E.U. Calls France’s Roma Expulsions a ‘Disgrace’…

 the-new-york-times and

PARIS — In blunt language, the European Commission on Tuesday called France’s deportation of Roma a “disgrace” and threatened legal action against the French government, claiming that it had misled European officials and that it was breaking European law.

President Nicolas Sarkozy, who faces record low approval ratings at home, has called Roma camps a source of crime and prostitution. Over the summer, his government expelled about 1,000 Roma, also known as Gypsies, in a move criticized by human rights groups and the Socialist opposition.

Over the weekend, a French directive was leaked that singles out the Roma as an ethnic group in the crackdown, contradicting repeated assurances by the government to the contrary.

The European Union justice commissioner, Viviane Reding, said that it was “shocking” that assurances given by French ministers in Brussels were being directly contradicted by actions in Paris. “My patience is wearing thin. Enough is enough,” a visibly angry Ms. Reding said at a news conference in Brussels. “No member state can expect special treatment when fundamental values and European laws are at stake.”

Ms. Reding likened the focus on Roma communities to ethnic cleansing. This was, she said, “a situation that I had thought that Europe would not have to witness again after the Second World War.”

The comments were embarrassing for the French government and were likely to put France’s relations with the European Commission under strain. While any legal proceedings could be lengthy, the prospect of a public shaming seemed to have forced Paris to soften its stance already.

On Monday, Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux signed a replacement directive that left out the reference to “Roma.” Discriminating on ethnic grounds contravenes not only European Union laws and charters, but also the French Constitution.

One prominent French organization supporting immigrant rights, Gisti, said it also was contemplating a lawsuit against the government. “Can you imagine a directive explicitly naming Jews or Arabs?” asked Stéphane Maugendre, the president of Gisti, on France Info radio.

But if French officials were backpedaling behind the scenes, publicly they expressed little remorse.

“The reality is French authorities have acted responsibly and with full respect of the law,” said Jean-François Copé, the parliamentary leader of Mr. Sarkozy’s center-right U.M.P. party.

The spokesman for France’s Foreign Ministry, Bernard Valero, expressed his “astonishment” at the commission’s announcement.

“We don’t think that with this type of statement we can improve the situation of the Roma, who are at the heart of our concerns and our action,” Mr. Valero told reporters.

Ms. Reding said she would recommend to the full European Commission that it force France into line with European Union law. Because France has already changed the directive, such legal action is unlikely to have a significant impact on policy.

The European Commission, the guardian of the European Union’s governing treaty, is usually at pains to deal diplomatically with national governments and has spent weeks discussing the situation with the French authorities.

Not only has Ms. Reding held meetings with French officials but the European Commission president, José Manuel Barroso, has also met with both the French president and the French prime minister, François Fillon.

Last week, the French immigration minister, Éric Besson, promised the European Parliament that “France has taken no specific measure regarding the Roma.”

After the police directive was leaked, Mr. Besson said he had not been aware of it.

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droit des étrangers, Roms

В прессу попало служебное предписание о высылке цыган из Франции

TCH, 14/09/2010

Во Франции к СМИ попало служебное предписание министерства внутренних дел Франции о высылке цыган из страны. Больше читайте здесь

AFP
AFP

В прессу попало служебное предписание министерства внутренних дел Франции о высылке цыган из страны. Этот документ датирован 5 августа 2010 года. Предписание разъясняет представителям власти на местах « специальные указания » президента Франции Николя Саркози. « 300 лагерей должны быть выселены и уничтожены в течение трех месяцев. Выселение цыганских лагерей является приоритетным », – говорится в документе. Утечка вызвала волну недовольства среди оппозиции и правозащитников. Ранее французские власти настаивали на том, что массовая депортация нарушающих законодательство мигрантов происходит не по национальному признаку, и цыган высылают так же, как и любых других нелегалов. « Можете ли вы представить, чтобы подобный документ был выпущен в отношении арабов или евреев? », – задается вопросом глава Группы информационного обеспечения и поддержки мигрантов (Gisti) Стефан Можендре (Stephane Maugendre). Правозащитников поддержала Социалистическая партия, представители которой обратились к Еврокомиссии с просьбой проверить министерское предписание на соответствие международным нормам. В свою очередь, французский министр по делам иммиграции Эрик Бессон (Eric Besson) заявил, что его не интересует документ, попавший в прессу. « Эта бумага не предназначалась мне, и более того, я вообще не знал о ее существовании », – заявил он. 10 сентября Бессон заявил, что Франция не намерена прекращать депортацию цыган в Болгарию и Румынию, несмотря на осуждение со стороны депутатов Европарламента. С середины августа в Румынию и Болгарию были высланы сотни цыган, нелегально проживавших во Франции. Согласно заявлениям французской стороны, депортация осуществляется на добровольной основе, и каждой семье, согласившейся вернуться в страну постоянного проживания, выплачивается денежная компенсация. Поводом для массового выселения цыган и уничтожения их лагерей стал рост преступности, который французские власти связывают с увеличением числа нелегальных мигрантов. Читайте также:
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droit des étrangers, Roms

France Gypsy Expulsions A ‘Disgrace,’ Says EU

france Mike Corder, 14/09/2010

BRUSSELS — France’s deportations of Gypsies are « a disgrace » and probably break EU law, the European Union’s executive body declared Tuesday in a stinging rebuke that set up a showdown with French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s conservative government.

In recent weeks, French authorities have dismantled more than 100 illegal camps and deported more than 1,000 Gypsies, also known as Roma, mainly back to Romania, in a crackdown that has drawn international condemnation.

EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding said she was appalled by the expulsions, « which gave that impression that people are being removed from a member state of the European Union just because they belong to an ethnic minority. »

This « is a situation that I had thought that Europe would not have to witness again after the second World War, » she told a news conference, adding « the commission will have no choice but to initiate infringement procedures against France. »

France could ultimately be slapped with a fine by the European Court of Justice if its expulsions are found to have breached EU law.

The crackdown continued Tuesday, as a chartered Airbus took off from the southern city of Marseille for Bucharest with 69 Roma on board, police officials said. Like others repatriated by France, they received a stipend of up to euro300 ($385) per person for resettlement.

At Bucharest’s Baneasa Airport, Argentina Rosca, 30, seven months pregnant with her sixth child, lugged a huge bag as she exited the airport.

« It’s good to be back because my children are here, » she said.

Alexandru Musa, 37, had been in Marseille for three months working in construction, earning euro1,000 a month under the table. He said he would return to France: « I earned good money and I was happy there. »

In Paris, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero expressed « astonishment – that’s the least you can say » at the announcement by the European Commission.

« We don’t think, with this type of statement, that we can improve the situation of the Roma, who are at the heart of our concerns and our action, » Valero told reporters. « It’s not time for polemics. … It’s time for work in favor of the Roma population. »

Sarkozy’s office refused to comment on Reding’s statement.

Roma face widespread discrimination in housing, jobs and education across Europe. As EU citizens, they have a right to travel to France, but must get papers to work or live there in the long term.

The advocacy group Romeurope estimates that up to 15,000 Roma live in France. French authorities have no official estimate.

Sarkozy has linked Roma to crime, calling their camps sources of prostitution and child exploitation. He has insisted that France does not want to stigmatize Roma, but the deportation policy is being criticized as discriminatory because it singles out one community.

Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux defended the policy in France’s National Assembly on Tuesday.

« We do not evacuate … illegal camps because they are Roma’s, we dismantle them because they are illegal, » he said.

Reding at times appeared angry as she read out her statement at the European Commission’s Brussels headquarters, once pounding the desk in front of her and saying: « Enough is enough. »

« After 11 years of experience on the commission, I even go further: This is a disgrace, » she said. « Discrimination on the basis or ethnic origin or race has no place in Europe. »

She also harshly criticized French authorities for telling the EU commission that it was not discriminating against Roma – a claim apparently contradicted by news reports of a government letter ordering regional officials to speed up a crackdown on illegal Roma camps.

« It is my deepest regret that political assurances given by two French ministers is now openly contradicted, » Reding said.

She was speaking about France’s immigration minister, Eric Besson, and its European affairs minister, Pierre Lellouche. Besson on Monday denied any knowledge of the reported Interior Ministry letter and did not speak to reporters Tuesday at a Brussels meeting on asylum issues.

Hortefeux issued a new letter late Monday about dismantling illegal camps that had no reference to Roma, the ministry said, but it would not provide a copy of the new letter to The Associated Press.

Some critics said the apparent flip-flop was part of a bald effort to erase any suggestion that Roma were being targeted by ethnicity.

Stephane Maugendre, the head of an immigrant support group in France, said the move « will not take anything away from the discriminatory character of the practices of regional governments and police regarding the Roma. »

Reding said she was « looking into the legal implications » of the new wording.

« It is important that not only the words change, but also the behavior of the French authorities, » Reding said, adding she was asking French authorities for swift explanation of the matter.

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droit des étrangers, Roms

French memo targets Roma camps for crackdown

latest Devorah Lauter, 14/09/2010

Rights groups seize on a leaked Interior Ministry memo prioritizing illegal Roma camps for clearing as evidence of discrimination. Officials deny wrongdoing but edit the circular to police.

Reporting from Paris — A leaked government document instructing French police to prioritize the systematic elimination of illegal Roma shanty towns, above other unauthorized squats, is fueling accusations that the state is discriminating against a specific group.

The letter dated Aug. 5 from the Interior Ministry to local police prefects calls for « systematic steps for the dismantling of illicit camps, in priority those of the Roma. »

The circular, published by French news media late Friday, has supplied evidence for human rights groups and other individuals to take legal action against the government over its drive to rapidly dismantle illegal camps and deport Roma, also known as Gypsies, to Bulgaria and Romania.

In response, the Interior Ministry announced Monday night that it had rewritten the circular, which stated, « Three hundred illegal camps or sites must be evacuated in three months, in priority those of the Roma. » The new circular does not specially mention Roma. But the edits are not likely to silence critics.

« This openly anti-Roma circular…is the symbol of the discriminatory and xenophobic policy which the government has led for several weeks against this population, » the Socialist Party national secretary, Harlem Desir, said in a statement Sunday. He also asked the European Commission to begin a « procedure » to sanction France for breaking the law; the commission said it would study the development.

With the circular, « we link actions to words. We have targeted a group of people because of their affiliation to a community, » said Stephane Maugendre, president of Gisti, a French legal defense group for immigrants. The group said it was preparing an official complaint against the government’s initiative, to be submitted to France’s State Council, a top judicial body.

Though President Nicolas Sarkozy made it clear in July that he wanted to « put an end to the wild implantation of Roma camps » and called such camps sources of crime, he has denied stigmatizing Roma, an ethnic minority that has long suffered discrimination.

Faced with international accusations of depicting Roma as menacing criminals, Minister of Immigration Eric Besson contended Thursday, before the circular’s leak, that « France uses no specific measure regarding Roma. » The state did not « recognize ethnic minorities » as a concept, and refrains from deporting groups, he added.

On Monday, Besson said he hadn’t known about the circular, which has brought the controversy to a new level.

« We now have a very precise, operational administrative device that is aimed at a highlighted group of people, » said Jean-Bernard Auby, law professor at Sciences Po Paris university. « It’s the techno-bureaucratic quality of the thing that makes it harder to accept, » and adds legitimacy to suspicions the government is guilty of stigmatization, he said.

The circular provides human rights groups and other political opponents a written decision that is necessary in order « to attack » the government through some sort of legal means, said Auby. « You couldn’t just do this based on a press statement or a speech, » he said of official complaints.

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droit des étrangers, Roms

Rights groups say memo shows France targeting Roma

mg_logo 14/09/2010

Rights groups accused France of inciting racial hatred after media published a memorandum ordering police to prioritise the dismantling of Roma camps.

Rights groups accused France on Sunday of inciting racial hatred after media published a government memorandum ordering police to prioritise the dismantling of Roma camps over other illegal settlements.

President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government, criticised by the European Parliament for breaking discrimination rules, insists the crackdown launched in July focuses on removing illegal camps and does not specifically target the Roma as a racial group. The August 5 memo, published on newspaper websites and signed by Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux’s chief of staff, ordered police chiefs and regional prefects to begin “a systematic operation to dismantle illegal camps, prioritising those of the Roma”.

“Three hundred camps or illegal settlements must be dismantled within three months, prioritising those of the Roma,” it said.

There was no official comment on the published memo.

Human rights associations said the document proved the government was singling out the Roma and called for its immediate suspension.

“We’re considering, together with other groups, a criminal lawsuit for incitement to racial hatred,” Stephane Maugendre, president of the immigrant help association Gisti, told Reuters.

Jean-Pierre Dubois, head of France’s Human Rights League, said his organisation was also studying legal action against the government based on the memorandum.

The opposition Socialist party, which has branded the repatriations “shameful”, said European authorities should take action against Sarkozy’s government.

“I call on the European Commission … to open a procedure against the French government to prevent this inhumane treatment and unacceptable stigmatisation of European citizens,” wrote Socialist European parliamentarian Harlem Desir.

The Commission has already asked France to give evidence that its campaign meets EU rules.

The conservative government has repatriated over 1 000 Roma in recent weeks, straining relations with Bucharest. France says the repatriations are mostly voluntary and include a resettlement payment of 300 euros per adult and 100 per child.

On Thursday, the European parliament passed a resolution accusing France of breaching European Union rules on discrimination and free movement of people. – Reuters

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droit des étrangers, Roms

EU calls France’s Gypsy expulsions ‘a disgrace’

22101d60543a76ebf9506a60f37e1534_400x400 14/09/2010

BRUSSELS – France’s deportations of Gypsies are « a disgrace » and probably break EU law, the European Union’s executive body declared Tuesday in a stinging rebuke that set up a showdown with French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s conservative government.

In recent weeks, French authorities have dismantled more than 100 illegal camps and deported more than 1,000 Gypsies, also known as Roma, mainly back to Romania, in a crackdown that has drawn international condemnation.

EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding said she was appalled by the expulsions, « which gave that impression that people are being removed from a member state of the European Union just because they belong to an ethnic minority. »

This « is a situation that I had thought that Europe would not have to witness again after the second World War, » she told a news conference, adding « the commission will have no choice but to initiate infringement procedures against France. »

France could ultimately be slapped with a fine by the European Court of Justice if its expulsions are found to have breached EU law.

The crackdown continued Tuesday, as a chartered Airbus took off from the southern city of Marseille for Bucharest with 69 Roma on board, police officials said. Like others repatriated by France, they received a stipend of up to C300 ($385) per person for resettlement.

At Bucharest’s Baneasa Airport, Argentina Rosca, 30, seven months pregnant with her sixth child, lugged a huge bag as she exited the airport.

« It’s good to be back because my children are here, » she said.

Alexandru Musa, 37, had been in Marseille for three months working in construction, earning C1,000 a month under the table. He said he would return to France: « I earned good money and I was happy there. »

In Paris, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero expressed « astonishment — that’s the least you can say » at the announcement by the European Commission.

« We don’t think, with this type of statement, that we can improve the situation of the Roma, who are at the heart of our concerns and our action, » Valero told reporters. « It’s not time for polemics. … It’s time for work in favour of the Roma population. »

Sarkozy’s office refused to comment on Reding’s statement.

Roma face widespread discrimination in housing, jobs and education across Europe. As EU citizens, they have a right to travel to France, but must get papers to work or live there in the long term.

The advocacy group Romeurope estimates that up to 15,000 Roma live in France. French authorities have no official estimate.

Sarkozy has linked Roma to crime, calling their camps sources of prostitution and child exploitation. He has insisted that France does not want to stigmatize Roma, but the deportation policy is being criticized as discriminatory because it singles out one community.

Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux defended the policy in France’s National Assembly on Tuesday.

« We do not evacuate … illegal camps because they are Roma’s, we dismantle them because they are illegal, » he said.

Reding at times appeared angry as she read out her statement at the European Commission’s Brussels headquarters, once pounding the desk in front of her and saying: « Enough is enough. »

« After 11 years of experience on the commission, I even go further: This is a disgrace, » she said. « Discrimination on the basis or ethnic origin or race has no place in Europe. »

She also harshly criticized French authorities for telling the EU commission that it was not discriminating against Roma — a claim apparently contradicted by news reports of a government letter ordering regional officials to speed up a crackdown on illegal Roma camps.

« It is my deepest regret that political assurances given by two French ministers is now openly contradicted, » Reding said.

She was speaking about France’s immigration minister, Eric Besson, and its European affairs minister, Pierre Lellouche. Besson on Monday denied any knowledge of the reported Interior Ministry letter and did not speak to reporters Tuesday at a Brussels meeting on asylum issues.

Hortefeux issued a new letter late Monday about dismantling illegal camps that had no reference to Roma, the ministry said, but it would not provide a copy of the new letter to The Associated Press.

Some critics said the apparent flip-flop was part of a bald effort to erase any suggestion that Roma were being targeted by ethnicity.

Stephane Maugendre, the head of an immigrant support group in France, said the move « will not take anything away from the discriminatory character of the practices of regional governments and police regarding the Roma. »

Reding said she was « looking into the legal implications » of the new wording.

« It is important that not only the words change, but also the behaviour of the French authorities, » Reding said, adding she was asking French authorities for swift explanation of the matter.

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