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Romani people in France, generally known in spoken French as "gitans", "tsiganes" or "manouches", are an ethnic group which originated in Northern India. The exact numbers of Romani people in France are not known, with estimates varying from 20,000 to 400,000. At least 12,000 Romani are estimated to live in unofficial urban camps throughout the country, with French authorities often attempting to close down these encampments. In 2009, the French government sent more than 10,000 Romani back to Romania and Bulgaria.
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Origin
The Romani people originate from Northern India, presumably from the northwestern Indian states Rajasthan and Punjab.
The linguistic evidence has indisputably shown that roots of Romani language lie in India: the language has grammatical characteristics of Indian languages and shares with them a big part of the basic lexicon, for example, body parts or daily routines.
More exactly, Romani shares the basic lexicon with Hindi and Punjabi. It shares many phonetic features with Marwari, while its grammar is closest to Bengali.
Genetic findings in 2012 suggest the Romani originated in northwestern India and migrated as a group. According to a genetic study in 2012, the ancestors of present scheduled tribes and scheduled caste populations of northern India, traditionally referred to collectively as the Ḍoma, are the likely ancestral populations of modern European Roma.
Population
In France the Romani people are typically classified into three groups:
The term "Romanichel" is considered pejorative, and "Bohémien" is outdated. The French National Gendarmerie tends to refer to "MENS" ("Minorités Ethniques Non-Sédentarisées"), an administrative term meaning "Travelling Ethnic Minorities". This term is not considered neutral or correct, because broadly a majority of French Romani have homes like other minorities, and are not more "travelling" than others.
The exact numbers of Romani people in France are not known, with estimates varying from 20,000 to 400,000. The French Romani rights group FNASAT reports that at least 12,000 Romani, who have immigrated from Romania and Bulgaria, live in unofficial urban camps throughout the country. French authorities often attempt to close down these encampments. In 2009, the government sent more than 10,000 Romani back to Romania and Bulgaria.
In 2009, the European Committee of Social Rights found France had violated the European Social Charter (rights to housing, right to protection against poverty and social exclusion, right of the family to protection) in respect to Romani population from foreign countries.
Repatriations
In 2010 and 2011, the French government organized repatriation flights to send Romani back to Romania. On 12 April a chartered flight carrying 160 Romani left northern France for Timisoara. As in the 2010 deportations, the French government gave those Romani leaving France €300 each, with €100 for each child. The Romani on the 12 April flight had each signed declarations that they would never return to France. On 9 August, the city of Marseille in southern France forcibly evicted 100 Romani people from their makeshift camp near Porte d'Aix, giving them 24 hours to leave. A chartered flight carrying approximately 150 Romani to Romania left the Lyon area on 20 September. France’s goal for 2011 was to deport 30,000 Romani to their home country. As of 2012, France sent about 8,000 Romani back to Romania and Bulgaria in 2011, after dismantling camps (illegal under French laws) where they were living on the outskirts of cities. The actions prompted controversy and calls for greater inclusion of Romani people.