10 days till the great migration

Not officially in France yet but leaving soon, September 13th to be exact!! Then staying in Paris with my lovely friend Charlotte before arriving in my studio in Laval on September 24th!

However before I go, I wanted to note one area of French culture and politics that I believe everyone should keep a close eye on in the news.

First, how France has expelled some Roma Gypsies back to Romania.

"Dozens of Roma (Gypsies) have arrived back in Romania after being repatriated by France under a controversial policy backed by President Nicolas Sarkozy. Some 86 Roma left France and hundreds more will follow in the coming weeks after their camps were shut down.The French government says it is a "decent and humane" policy of removing people from deplorable conditions. But rights groups say the Roma are being demonised, and Romania has warned France against "xenophobic reactions".

Continue reading the main story


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11020429

Second, an issue with concerns the entire European Union, but most especially Italy, is the new buddy buddy relationship between Italy and Libya, in order to curb illegal immigration from sub-Saharan Africa in particular.  As always, Gaddafi is swaying back and forth between explosive and racist comments against sub-Saharan African immigrants, and occassionally demonstrating a sort of 'third-world' solidarity.

"Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi says the EU should pay Libya at least 5bn euros (£4bn; $6.3bn) a year to stop illegal African immigration and avoid a "black Europe". Speaking on a visit to Italy, Col Gaddafi said Europe "could turn into Africa" as "there are millions of Africans who want to come in". Italy has drawn criticism for handing over to Libya migrants it intercepts at sea, without screening them first."

This is what happens when you start expelling illegal immigrants back to Libya, rather than their home countries.

Also, the UN Refugee agency was just expelled from Libya, just fyi.

Read more about the story here:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11139345

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10264625

Here is another video that reveals exactly how secretive these operations are, that is, how the EU has partnered with Libya and other North African countries to curb illegal immigration(but notably illegal sub-Saharan immigration).

see also the BBC special called "Europe or die trying"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8251376.stm

In conclusion, I look forward to following the immigration debate in France, as well as the role of France in Mediterranean negotiations, and I hope you all will too!