Vatican: Church defends rights of Gypsies

(August 28, 2010) A Vatican official has said that the Church's defence of Gypsies or Roma expelled by France isn't meddling in politics. Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, secretary of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People told French religious news agency I.MEDIA that the Church is “neither on the right nor on the left nor on the centre” but simply showing pastoral concern for people. Immigration Minister Eric Besson said that by Aug. 31, approximately 950 Roma from 88 camps would have been sent back to Romania and Bulgaria. The expulsions are part of a voluntary repatriation programme in which the government is paying each adult and child a sum to return to his or her country of origin, even though the Gypsies are members of the European Union. The French government, however, demands that the Gypsies have work permits and prove they are able to support themselves. The archbishop of Paris, Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois joined the tide of criticism over France's crackdown on Gypsies, calling it a "circus," while the EU's justice commissioner denounced French officials' discriminatory tone about the vulnerable minority. Archbishop Agostino Marchetto criticized the dismantling of about 51 illegal Gypsy camps in early August, which pushed residents into "a precarious situation" that certainly impacted their decision to accept the monetary aid connected to their deportation. He said the European Union forbids collective expulsions and that the European Commission was studying the situation. Amnesty International expressed concern over French comments linking Roma to crime saying it may "lead to even further discrimination" against them.