one hundred and ten years ago in Paris

This was printed in Le Petit Journal on Sunday June 23, 1895 showing the expulsion of the 'zoniers' poor people who lived on the edge of Paris. The military were called to expel the poor and level the shanties from the 'zone' which were on the old walls of Paris. The Periphérique, the ring road, was built on top of it. The article asks 'Are these the enemy at our gates? Is the law too extreme and an extreme injustice?' Last Sunday this happened in Paris. The police evicted the poor and mostly Roma from the shanty town or 'bidonville' what was once 'le zonier' constructed on old rail tracks, 'le petite ceinture' at the edge of the Periphérique which was built on the old walls.

The BBC reported more than 350 Roma people had lived in the camp since mid-2015. Activists said many left early ahead of the police action which belongs to the national rail authority SNCF. France has one of Europe's toughest policies towards Roma. Most live in camps that are regularly demolished and every year thousands are deported. Amnesty International urged city authorities to find a lasting housing solution for those evicted in Paris - saying they would become homeless in mid-winter.

Bulldozers came and leveled the huts which were without water or heat.

What caught my attention was that in November I'd been driving on the Peripherique and saw the just opened Philharmonie de Paris, an amazing building the work of Jean Nouvel, from the ring road.

But then my eye caught on glints of light, people moving in this 'bidonville' among these shacks on the old tracks and the dichotomy hit me. One hundred and ten years later the poor people were evicted, their shacks torn down. Again. Cara - Tuesday

Gens de Voyage the Gypsies

Recently in the French news, which spread to the international news, was a graphic photo of a 15 year old Roma boy beaten up, stuffed in a shopping cart and left for dead on the outskirts of Paris. A neighbor who found him took photos to document his condition brought him to the hospital. It turns out that a gang of 20 young people wearing ski masks beat this Roma boy up. The pictures are horrific. People were asking how could this happen. Francois Hollande got on the news deploring the incident. But no one was asking why.  The racism against Gypsies or Roma in France and throughout  Europe is quiet and not talked about. It’s a given.

Of course it depends on who you talk to and it’s a complicated issue. For several years the French police have worked with the Romanian government to bring in Romanian police. These police are taught French and deputized to work in Paris.
But these are the Eastern European Gypsies, the Roma who are from Albania, former Yugoslavia, Romania who after the EU opened the borders pass freely
through Europe. Freely is a loose term.
It turns out this boy who is still in a coma, is 17 not 15, he's recently arrived from Romania to be with his step-family and was known to have psychiatric problems.

Gypsies are known by different names in different countries - Scinti in Germany, Gitane in Spain, Gitano in Italy and the French born are called Manouches and Gens de Voyage. By French born I mean those born in France who have citizenship and may have lived there for years, in semi-nomadic lifestyles or more sedentary conditions, for generations. Those are the ones who feature in my next book.
What do you think of when you hear Gypsy or Roma in Europe?
Chicken thieves, Pickpockets in the Metro, musicians, workers at the carnivals, circus, horse traders, exotic dancers, caners at the market?
But it’s a complicated issue
Cara - Tuesday