Last week in Lille a Catholic priest announced that he was praying that French president Nicolas Sarkozy would have a heart attack. The priest, Arthur Hervet, who has since retracted his words, is passionate about fair treatment for immigrant gypsies (or Roma, known in France as Roms). They are currently in the French president’s line of fire. In the Loire in mid-July a group of French gypsies (known in France as “travelling people”) attacked a police station with axes. Two weeks later, in Grenoble, Mr Sarkozy launched an “offensive sécuritaire”. He would break up 600 illegal encampments and squats, many of them occupied by immigrants from Romania, and repatriate the inhabitants.
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FT.com / Columnists / Christopher Caldwell - Roma reveal a rootless Europe
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