TENS OF thousands joined protests across France on Saturday against a government crackdown on immigrants and the high-profile repatriation of Roma people to eastern Europe.
In Paris, leaders of left-wing parties, rights groups and trade unionists marched with Roma immigrants and protesters chanting “stop repression” and “no to Sarkozy’s inhumane policies”. Organisers said the demonstration attracted 50,000 people, though police put the figure at 12,000.
Critics see this summer’s expulsions of Roma as part of an attempt by president Nicolas Sarkozy to revive his popularity and divert attention from contentious pension reforms, spending cuts and a series of political scandals. There has been rancorous debate over government proposals to revoke French citizenship from naturalised immigrants found guilty of certain serious crimes.
“For me, this is a day of fighting against racism and xenophobia,” the socialist mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, said.
Thousands more marched in Marseille, Bordeaux, Toulouse and other cities, while smaller protests took place outside French embassies in Brussels, London and Madrid.
“There are many of us calmly saying that the future of this country is not a return to the old hatreds and racist prejudices,” Jean-Pierre Dubois, president of France’s Human Rights League, said. The association estimated national turnout at 100,000, but interior minister Brice Hortefeux said in a statement that only a few tens of thousands had taken part nationwide, less than organisers had hoped, and that he would press on with reforms.
“Even though they were organised by about 60 associations, unions and political parties, [Saturday’s] so-called ‘defence of human rights’ demonstrations only managed to bring out, in total, across the whole of the territory, a few tens of thousands of people,” Mr Hortefeux said.
“I will continue my determined action to push back all forms of crime, defend victims’ rights and this without ever stigmatising any community whatsoever.” The weekend’s protests set the tone for a week of action over some of Mr Sarkozy’s most contentious domestic policies. A bigger test for the government will come on tomorrow, when a nationwide strike is due to take place in protest at plans to reform the pension system and bring the legal retirement age from 62 to 60.
The leader of the powerful CGT trade union, Bernard Thibault, said at Saturday’s march in Paris: “Defending freedom and the principles of democracy and defending social rights go hand in hand. And in general, when freedom decreases, social rights decrease too.”
Unions say many public services, including schools and public transport, will be disrupted in tomorrow’s strike, which coincides with the start of debate on the reforms in the National Assembly.
State railways are likely to be affected. Air France said it expected to operate all long-haul flights and 90 per cent of short- and medium-haul flights from Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport.