France Continues to Deport Roma

France’s policy of deporting Roma people to Romania is continuing. The French immigration minister Eric Besson has told reporters all Roma going back to “their country of origin” are doing so on a “purely voluntary basis”. This involves accepting a cash payment of $380 from the French government. Around 125 Roma flew back to the Romanian capital Bucharest on Friday, a day after 79 left. Mr Besson said any Roma who did not “volunteer” to leave France would be forced to leave, without the $380. Besson rejected any criticism, saying: "France is the country in Europe which most respects the rights of foreigners… We have become the second country in the world after the United States in granting asylum."


The Roma are traditionally a travelling people. There are about 15,000 living in France. Many Roma communities have faced discrimination in other European countries. The Roma are EU citizens and therefore under EU law, have the right to live in any European Union country. However, France has the right to expel the Roma if they have no work permit or proof they can support themselves financially. Many of the returned Roma have vowed to go back to France. Ionut Balasz, 26, said: "Of course I'm thinking about returning to France. Life is better there than in Romania." The Romanian foreign minister Teodor Basconschi said: "What has happened in Paris shows that we must have an integration plan across Europe for Roma citizens."

COMPREHENSION 

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if  a-h  below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	France is ordering many Italians to leave the country.	T / F
b.	A French minister said all people leaving are choosing to leave.	T / F
c.	The minister said only people who volunteered to leave would leave.	T / F
d.	France is number two in the list of countries receiving asylum seekers.	T / F
e.	There are between 10,000-20,000 Roma living in France.	T / F
f.	The Roma have the right to live in France if they have enough income.	T / F
g.	One Roma in the article said he’d never go back to France.	T / F
h.	A Romanian minister said it was better for Roma to stay in Romania.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	deporting	a.	eject
2	origin	b.	sign up
3.	purely	c.	promised
4.	volunteer	d.	birth
5.	granting	e.	prejudice
6.	discrimination	f.	throwing out
7.	expel	g.	assimilation
8.	proof	h.	giving
9.	vowed	i.	totally
10.	integration	j.	evidence