- Title: FRANCE-ROMA/CAMP Police evacuate one of France's oldest Roma camps
- Date: 27th August 2015
- Summary: LA COURNEUVE, FRANCE (AUGUST 27, 2015) (REUTERS) ROMA CAMP IN THE DISTANCE MOTORWAY VARIOUS OF POLICE BLOCKING ROAD LEADING TO CAMP LUGGAGE AND MEMBERS OF THE ROMA COMMUNITY TEA BEING DISTRIBUTED ROMA PEOPLE TALKING TO CHARITY WORKERS (SOUNDBITE) (French) ROMA CAMP RESIDENT, MIKAELA, SAYING: "Someone called me and said the police had arrived and that they were preventing us to take our belongings, I stayed under the rain for 30 minutes and as I'm pregnant I asked whether I could go back to get my belongings but they said no and that I would be given a hotel room." MEMBERS OF ROMA COMMUNITY WAITING ON PAVEMENT (SOUNDBITE) (French) ROMA CAMP RESIDENT, MIKAELA, SAYING: "I don't know what I'm going to do, maybe I'll go back to Romania in that case, if I don't have another solution. What can I do, I can't stay outside, I'm pregnant." CHARITY WORKER VARIOUS OF ROMA PEOPLE WITH SUITCASES (SOUNDBITE) (French) POLICE REPRESENTATIVE, HUGUES BESANCENOT, SAYING: "This camp started in 2009 and it is potentially hazardous, it's unsanitary, there's no water, no electricity, the electricity there is provided by generators which pose a fire hazard for those occupying the camp." VARIOUS OF POLICE BLOCKING ROAD (SOUNDBITE) (French) POLICE REPRESENTATIVE, HUGUES BESANCENOT, SAYING: "The evacuation was peaceful and calm, people were able to prepare their luggage and leave. Those who were outside were able to go in to get their belongings and their identity papers and we tried to do all of this in the most peaceful way and it was the case." ROMA PEOPLE WAITING UNDER THE RAIN VARIOUS OF ROMA CAMP
- Embargoed: 11th September 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: France
- Country: France
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA8E8WAK0CXJAXYY8DB0KBG63SC
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Police evacuated one of France 's oldest slums on Thursday (August 27) in La Courneuve, north of Paris, home to over 200 Roma.
"Someone called me and said the police had arrived and that they were preventing us to take our belongings, I stayed under the rain for 30 minutes and as I'm pregnant I asked whether I could go back to get my belongings but they said no and that I would be given a hotel room," said Mikaela, a Roma from Romania.
"I don't know what I'm going to do, maybe I'll go back to Romania in that case, if I don't have another solution. What can I do, I can't stay outside, I'm pregnant," she added.
The evacuation of the camp, nestled between a motorway and an industrial zone, is the result of a judicial procedure which started in 2013 by the communist mayor of La Courneuve.
"This camp started in 2009 and it is potentially hazardous, it's unsanitary, there's no water, no electricity, the electricity there is provided by generators which pose a fire hazard for those occupying the camp," said Hugues Besancenot, a local police representative.
"The evacuation was peaceful and calm, people were able to prepare their luggage and leave. Those who were outside were able to go in to get their belongings and their identity papers and we tried to do all of this in the most peaceful way and it was the case," he added.
Authorities said the most vulnerable people would be given temporary lodging, around 60 out of the 203 people living in difficult conditions. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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