In the wake of a meeting between Romanian and French high level Government representatives, Amnesty International has asked Romania and France to stop Roma evictions. France’s Minister of the Interior Manuel Valls and the Minister for European Affairs, Bernard Cazeneuve, will on Wednesday (September 12 ) meet the Romanian President Traian Basescu, Prime Minister Victor Ponta, and relevant ministers in Romania.

“At this meeting the French must avoid the hypocrisy of claiming their policies are simply a reaction to the treatment of Roma in Romania,” said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International Europe and Central Asia director.

Amnesty’s recent report reminds of the two recent forced evictions, one in the Pirita settlement in Baia Mare, Romania and another in Villeneuve-le-Roi in the south-eastern suburbs of Paris, the latest in a regular pattern documented by Amnesty International.

“Eyewitness reports confirm that 26 families were forcibly evicted and left homeless in Pirita this morning, as were another 200 people in Villeneuve-le-Roi of whom only a limited number were offered alternative housing,” according to Amnesty International.

Dalhuisen goes on to say Romanian and French authorities must make a firm commitment to ending forced evictions and ensuring better protection in the law in both countries for Roma.

“Forced evictions are illegal and they are human rights violations. It is high time for Romania and France as EU member states to stop this practice,” Amnesty writes in its statement.

editor@romania-insider.com