Boxcars were used to ship Jews to death camps before and during World War II. German police and military forces swept through Jewish ghettos, at first in their own nation and then in the lands of the conquered, where they engaged in wholesale "round-ups" of Jewish citizens for slave labor, mad experiments and ultimate annihilation. The image of "passengers" being herded into tight quarters for banishment or worse is an historical image that lingers in the hundreds of photographs, films and books published about the holocaust. Never Again! is the cry that is oft-repeated.
Illegal immigration brings images of undocumented workers, vilified in their quest to survive, but creating fears when concentrations of "illegals" are accused of everything from taking jobs and sucking up social services to committing crimes of terrorism, drug trafficking, gang violence, thievery, fraud and extortion. There are many among us who would like nothing more than to fill locked boxcars and airplanes with as many undocumented aliens as possible, shipping them "back to where they all belong" (yes, those are lyrics from a Beatles song that was initially aimed at British residents from the Subcontinent). In some parts, this "mass deportation" effort is alive and well, being implemented by a government with a plan. Where is this? Arizona? Texas? Not exactly, but to you they definitely have an accent: Europe.
As austerity measures are contracting available safety nets – even "socialist" Denmark is cutting unemployment benefits from four to two years – and where the mood is running very conservative these days, Europeans are becoming decreasingly "open-minded" about foreigners settling in their midst… they have enough trouble, they believe, with legal residential shifts from poorer European Union nations to the richer "have" countries, especially German and France.
The most recent targets of this immigration "austerity" move are known to us as "gypsies" – who wander in bands and create their own make-shift communities – but are known in France as Roma (because of their probable country of origin, Romania… although more than a few also hail from Bulgaria). Two planeloads of Roma – 700 strong – were "rounded up" to be flown back to Romania and Bulgaria, one flight departed on the 19th and the next is scheduled for the 26th of August. France made it easier for the first 100 deportees by anteing up $385 and a one way ticket to Romania if the departure were “voluntary.” On the 19th, police descended on an encampment in La Courneuve, France “taking names and filling out expulsion orders. Fully padded, but without helmets, the officers were aggressive but polite, accompanied by a Romanian policeman and three interpreters.” New York Times (August 19th).
The government is sensitive to the press using the word "round-up" – in French, it's les rafles – and French Immigration Minister Eric Besson is asking for a nicer word, since images of Jews being "rounded-up" isn't what the government wants to project. 79% of those polled in France favor a tough crackdown on these Roma communities, but the images of police at work may alter that current statistic. "Besson said [French President Nicolas] Sarkozy [who ordered a crackdown on illegal Roma encampments] is not out to stigmatize the Roma people, but merely trying to cut down on crime. Police have broken up some 40 encampments and squats in the past two weeks and have vowed to dismantle a total of 300 through October. The crackdown targets not just Roma, but also more numerous so-cal led 'travelers' of French nationality." AOLNews.com (August 17th).
Critics claim that the French move actually violates the law: “Robert A. Kushen, executive director of the Budapest-based European Roma Rights Centre, said that by providing this essentially false choice [paying a small sum for a perceived “voluntary” deportation], ‘the French are trying to insulate themselves from legal challenge, arguing that those who leave are doing so voluntarily and are not being expelled as a group.’… Mass expulsions based on ethnicity violate European Union law, Mr. Kushen said, and the failure of France to do individual assessments of each case — as opposed to cursory examinations of papers by the police — also violates European Union rules.” The Times.
Other critics are also stating the obvious: "It wouldn't be correct to link everything: integration, religion, terrorism and foreigners coming to France. There are French terrorists, there are French criminals," [a deputy in Sarkozy's own Union for a Popular Movement, Bernard Debre] wrote. "It's clear that we need a reasonable immigration policy and integration policy." AOLNews.com. Sound familiar? Don't even need a mirror to find a U.S. reflection of those sentiments. History confirms that harsh economic times clearly do not favor immigrants – legal or otherwise.
I'm Peter Dekom, and I wonder how it feels when someone really wants you gone… and you believe that you have done nothing wrong other than try and survive?
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