Roma Go Home: The Plight of European Roma

In July 2010, French President Nicolas Sarkozy called a meeting of his ministers and police chiefs to examine "the situation of travelling people and Roma and the problems that certain members of these communities pose to public order and safety."'This meeting led to the deportation of approximately one thousand Roma to Bulgaria and Romania."In late 2010, the French government destroyed several makeshift camps populated by nomadic groups.'The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights prohibits collective expulsions of any group by a Charter member, and establishes that no one may be deported to another country where he or she faces "a serious risk" of severe harm or discrimination.0 The French have stated that because they are deporting only those Roma who are in France illegally, they have done nothing wrong."Bulgaria and Romania, the two countries to which the Roma are largely being deported, have been EU member states since 2007, though they have not yet been fully integrated into all of the EU's joint enterprises.12This means that while citizens, including Roma, of other member states are free to travel throughout the EU, Bulgarians and Romanians are not."Still, the French treatment of the Roma may not conform to European standards."France is not the only EU member state discriminating against the Roma.They have been horribly discriminated against in Italy."In 2008, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said that his nation was beset by an "army of evil," referring to illegal immigrants, many of whom are Roma."The Italian government 7. French Ministerial, supra note 1. 8. Id.The Romani people are not necessarily from Romania, a country that takes its name from Romanized tribes living within former parts of the Roman Empire.