France's Roma dilemma

Jozsef Farkas has been on the streets before - after authorities seized his family's house when the taxes went unpaid.

That was in his native Romania. Today, the 17-year-old Roma may again find himself homeless, this time in this shabby Paris suburb, where the local mayor threatens to demolish France's oldest slum by the month's end. Supporters reported the evictions began on Thursday.

"People want a different life," Farkas says of fellow residents of La Samaritain shantytown, mostly Roma from western Romania like himself. "They want to be part of France, they want to work, they want a place to live, they want to go to school. They don't want to be expelled."

Tucked under a highway, this grimy settlement seems an unlikely place fight for. Just past the makeshift houses, rats scurry among piles of garbage. But for the 300 or so Roma who live here, Samaritain is the only home they have.

Farkas has helped to launch a petition to save the slum. So far, it's gathered more than 37,000 signatures. On a recent afternoon, the Roma and their supporters hosted a meeting at Samaritain's Evangelical church to spread awareness.

"If the mayor kicks them out, they're going to be spread out in the streets," says architect Fiona Meadows, who is part of a loose association proposing another solution. "They're going to open a new slum and nothing is going to happen. They're going to remain in poverty."

The group, which includes NGOs, activists and an architectural school, wants to improve La Samaritain's housing, build toilets and cart away the garbage. With a fixed address, its members argue, Roma children can go to schools and their parents can find jobs and open businesses. Indeed, some say, if Samaritain is allowed to stay, it can be a model on integrating Roma elsewhere in France - one local solution to a much larger European problem.

"The only thing we want is for two or three years, to help them on a project so they can earn money and become normal Europeans - and get out of this slum," Meadows says.

Even the bishop of the Saint Denis area that includes La Courneuve, has joined their cause. "For lack of sustainable solutions that respect human dignity, what is the good of expelling the Roma of Samaritain?" wrote Monsignor Pascal Delannoy, in a statement published Monday. "What's the good of worsening their precariousness?"

Tough on Roma

France has been widely criticized for its tough policies toward the roughly 20,000 Roma in the country, including by the European Union. Authorities have regularly dismantled Roma camps and deported thousands. Although many Roma are EU citizens, countries can justify such expulsions if people are considered burdens on the welfare system.

For many ordinary French, the Roma are the beggars they see daily on the streets, with too many children and no jobs. The negative stereotypes were reinforced this week when a Roma shot dead three fellow members of a squatter camp, along with a police officer.

"For me, the solution is that Roma learn their rights, because they don't know they have rights," said French activist Evelyne Perrin, who attended the Samaritain meeting.

'A question of respect'

But so far, La Courneuve's Communist Mayor Gilles Poux is holding firm, arguing the slum is unhygienic and unsafe. The state - not local authorities - must find a solution, he says. Poux declined an interview request, but in a statement earlier this month, he described his decision as "very difficult to make."

La Samaritain has one city hall supporter - municipal councilor Mehdi Bouteghmes, who strolled through the slum one recent afternoon, chatting with inhabitants.

"I think that human beings should be better respected and live in a better condition than what we offer these people," said Bouteghmes, who wants to launch a dialogue with Mayor Poux on ways to resolve the standoff.

Nearby, men played cards and a group of women bounced a baby, chatting in evening sun. A teenager turned over pieces of chicken sizzling on a grill and a small boy preened as his mother combed his hair.

"Just because they are Roma, doesn't mean they shouldn't be allowed to live a normal life," he said.