Thoughts on France's recent policy towards Romanian and Bulgarian Gypsies: Where do you stand and why?

BBC Article

I honestly don’t know where to stand on this issue.

Living in italy i have seen “Romas” (called “Rom” here) begging, enforcing unofficial tolls in station toilets, a friend of mine had one of their camps in an illegally occupied terrain next to his house and, the day they left, all the food he stored in his basement suddenly disappeared, so i can’t help but think there had to be some sort of connection.

Furthermore all the suggestions like “what if we gave them places to live and jobs” seem moot because their culture embraced nomad behaviour long ago and they don’t seem to want to leave it behind any time soon. This rises all sorts of problems with civil behaviour, them being untraceable and therefore unprosecutable.

From whatever angle you slice it they’re a problem, if not because they do commit crimes, simply because they can’t be prosecuted if they do.

And yet i can’t honestly say this is a good idea. Firstly because it’s ineffectual, they travel constantly, what’s deporting them gonna do? Secondly because no matter how justified it may be it’s still a brutal generalization and an uneven treatement of the same crimes.

Beggars, thieves and prostitutes exist everywhere, and even the ones that are immigrants aren’t necessarily romas, yet they’re subject to a rougher treatement to say the least.

But then, how can a sedentary society, whose entire security system leans on its citizens being traceable, accept a people that stubbornly refuses to conform to this very base premise?

I have no answers, and i’d like to see yours.