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| Subject: Via Ancaps: Thousands protests against Roma expulsions held in France Sat Sep 04, 2010 6:13 pm | |
| Demonstrators march through Paris to the sound of Roma music and drums
Thousands of people have attended rallies in Paris and 130 other French towns to protest at the government's policy of deporting Roma people.
Police say turnout across France was slightly more than 77,000 while organisers put the figure nearer 100,000.
With polls suggesting at least 65% of French people back the policy, the government played down the protests.
The EU parliament is to debate the Roma situation in Europe next week.
About 1,000 Roma (Gypsies) returned to Romania and Bulgaria from France last month, while official figures record that 11,000 Roma were expelled from France last year.
The League of Human Rights, which called for the demonstrations, said it wanted to counteract government "xenophobia" and what it described as the systematic abuse of Roma in France.
The rallies were backed by the opposition Socialist Party and the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), France's second largest trade union confederation.
ANCAPS: ANARCHO-CAPITALISTS |
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