France on Thursday sought to fend off sharp criticism from the UN's anti-racism panel after members highlighted a "resurgence" in racism and xenophobia in one of Europe's biggest nations.
French officials underlined the legal grounds for measures being taken against travelling Roma from central Europe as the UN's Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination wrapped up its hearing on France's application of international standards. More on France24
A new report by the European Roma Rights Centre finds that France's Gypsy and Romani population lives in a pervasive climate of racism and discrimination.
Hard on the heels of the riots in France, the Budapest-based European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) has published a detailed report on the human rights situation of Gypsies, Travellers and Romani migrants in France. Entitled Always somewhere else: Anti-Gypsyism in France, the report sums up the findings of the ERRC's relevant research and monitoring activities since 2003. See EurActive for more
Also see: Race issue gives Sarkozy an easy route to boost support – The Independent