PARIS: France will consider granting migrants from Romania and Bulgaria the right to work in a move designed to end a row over the treatment of 15,000 Roma living in makeshift camps across the country.
Interior Minister Manuel Valls, who has overseen the dismantling of several camps and the repatriation of hundreds of Roma, said Thursday the lifting of labour market restrictions "could be one of the solutions" to an issue that has divided the Socialist administration.
France is one of a number of European Union countries which declined to grant Bulgarian and Romanian workers unrestricted access to their labour markets following the two countries' 2007 accession to the EU.
Critics argue that the policy puts Roma migrants from the two countries in an invidious position since they can be deported because they cannot demonstrate that they can support themselves but at the same time, cannot seek work legally.
One of the EU's founding principles is that citizens should be able to work in any member state and the transitional arrangements permitted when Bulgaria and Romania joined must be phased out by the end of 2013.
France's move to possibly bring that forward follows criticism of Valls from sections of his own party, from Green members of the government and from Roma rights groups.
Cecile Duflot, the Green housing minister, welcomed what was a marked change of tone by her colleague.
"It is not acceptable in our country that you have families and children living in absolutely unbearable shanty towns," she said.
"At the the same time, dismantling these camps without any alternative just means putting people into an even more perilous position."
In an open letter to Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, Roma rights group La Voix des Roms (Roma Voice), welcomed Valls' move to call a ministerial meeting on the issue.
"Hopefully this will mark the start of important changes, not only for the 10-15,000 Roma from Bulgaria and Romania living in precarious conditions but also for the other 500,000 Roma living in France," the letter said.
Former President Nicolas Sarkozy sparked international outrage in 2010 with a sweep of Roma camps that European Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding described as reviving memories of World War II deportations.
The Commission is monitoring the new government's handling of the Roma but has stopped short of accusing the administration of breaking EU rules.
Valls said that a commitment made by Sarkozy's successor, Francois Hollande, that camps would not be dismantled without rehousing options would be honoured.
"It will take time," Valls said. "The objective will be met progressively but it is difficult and we have to acknowledge that."
The interior minister last week sanctioned the dismantling of camps on the outskirts of Lyon and around the northern city of Lille which were home to more than 250 Roma.
On Tuesday, police in Lyon removed 46 Roma, including 25 children, from a squat in the city centre. Rather than being rehoused they have since been dispersed to various illegal camps around the city.
The Socialists have also continued their predecessors' practice of offering Roma financial incentives (300 euros per adult, 150 euros per child) to be flown back to their native countries.
Critics say this is a waste of public money as there is nothing France can do to stop Roma from immediately coming back.
Polls suggest the government's policy of dismantling illegal settlements enjoys 80 percent support among voters.
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