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FRENCH SCHOOLCHILDREN MARCH IN ANGER OVER EXPULSIONS
17 October 2013 Last updated at 14:44
The BBC's Christian Fraser says 14 schools have been blockaded in Paris
Thousands of schoolchildren in Paris and other parts of France
have been demonstrating in anger over the expulsion of two foreign
teenagers.
Twenty secondary schools in the French capital were disrupted as
children joined a march, clenching fists in solidarity with the
expelled pupils.
Some demanded the sacking of the Interior Minister, Manuel Valls.
In one case, a Roma schoolgirl was sent back to Kosovo and in the
other, a student was repatriated to Armenia.
There has been widespread indignation at the manner in which border
police picked up schoolgirl Leonarda Dibrani, whose family had lost
its bid for asylum in France after five years in the country.
Leonarda, 15, was escorted from her school bus by a teacher, in front
of other children, in the eastern region of Doubs on 9 October.
The row has caused strains within the government of Socialist President
Francois Hollande, whose most popular minister with the wider public
is Mr Valls, according to recent opinion polls.
Mr Valls has drawn protests over his hard line on Roma immigrants,
which is reminiscent of Mr Hollande's conservative predecessor,
Nicolas Sarkozy.
'Arrested for theft'
Schoolchildren left class to show solidarity both with Leonarda and
Khatchik Kachatryan, a 19-year-old student in Paris who was expelled
on Saturday to Armenia.
Mr Kachatryan was arrested for shoplifting in September, at which
point police discovered he had entered France illegally, the French
daily Le Figaro reports.
Leonarda says she faces discrimination back in Kosovo
Reports suggest that he was detained on his return to the former
Soviet republic for seeking to escape doing military service.
"Bring back Khatchik and Leonarda, they belong here," marching pupils
chanted on Thursday, holding up signs calling for Mr Valls to resign.
The president of France's National High School Students' Union, Ivan
Dementhon, said students were angry at the way the Dibrani family
had been treated.
"The expulsion of the young Leonarda is particularly shocking because
it was done in a school environment," he said.
"It's not tolerable that students with or without documents are
expelled. Everybody should have a right to education, and that is
why all high school students are here."
Journalists who visited the Dibrani family in Kosovo on Wednesday
found them living in a house in the northern town of Mitrovica,
despite earlier suggestions that they were homeless.
It has also emerged that the father, Resat, was investigated by the
French authorities for allegedly beating his family.
Mr Valls insists that the deportation of Leonarda and the rest of
her family was carried out in line with established procedure.
"It is of course a difficult subject but any immigration policy
requires respect for the law, respect for individuals and great
firmness," he said this week. "I am accountable for that to the
French people."
Amnesty International recently reported that more than 10,000 Roma
had been evicted from temporary camps in France in the first half of
the year.
Some 20,000 Roma have settled in France, coming mainly from Romania,
Bulgaria and parts of the former Yugoslavia like Kosovo.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24569585
17 October 2013 Last updated at 14:44
The BBC's Christian Fraser says 14 schools have been blockaded in Paris
Thousands of schoolchildren in Paris and other parts of France
have been demonstrating in anger over the expulsion of two foreign
teenagers.
Twenty secondary schools in the French capital were disrupted as
children joined a march, clenching fists in solidarity with the
expelled pupils.
Some demanded the sacking of the Interior Minister, Manuel Valls.
In one case, a Roma schoolgirl was sent back to Kosovo and in the
other, a student was repatriated to Armenia.
There has been widespread indignation at the manner in which border
police picked up schoolgirl Leonarda Dibrani, whose family had lost
its bid for asylum in France after five years in the country.
Leonarda, 15, was escorted from her school bus by a teacher, in front
of other children, in the eastern region of Doubs on 9 October.
The row has caused strains within the government of Socialist President
Francois Hollande, whose most popular minister with the wider public
is Mr Valls, according to recent opinion polls.
Mr Valls has drawn protests over his hard line on Roma immigrants,
which is reminiscent of Mr Hollande's conservative predecessor,
Nicolas Sarkozy.
'Arrested for theft'
Schoolchildren left class to show solidarity both with Leonarda and
Khatchik Kachatryan, a 19-year-old student in Paris who was expelled
on Saturday to Armenia.
Mr Kachatryan was arrested for shoplifting in September, at which
point police discovered he had entered France illegally, the French
daily Le Figaro reports.
Leonarda says she faces discrimination back in Kosovo
Reports suggest that he was detained on his return to the former
Soviet republic for seeking to escape doing military service.
"Bring back Khatchik and Leonarda, they belong here," marching pupils
chanted on Thursday, holding up signs calling for Mr Valls to resign.
The president of France's National High School Students' Union, Ivan
Dementhon, said students were angry at the way the Dibrani family
had been treated.
"The expulsion of the young Leonarda is particularly shocking because
it was done in a school environment," he said.
"It's not tolerable that students with or without documents are
expelled. Everybody should have a right to education, and that is
why all high school students are here."
Journalists who visited the Dibrani family in Kosovo on Wednesday
found them living in a house in the northern town of Mitrovica,
despite earlier suggestions that they were homeless.
It has also emerged that the father, Resat, was investigated by the
French authorities for allegedly beating his family.
Mr Valls insists that the deportation of Leonarda and the rest of
her family was carried out in line with established procedure.
"It is of course a difficult subject but any immigration policy
requires respect for the law, respect for individuals and great
firmness," he said this week. "I am accountable for that to the
French people."
Amnesty International recently reported that more than 10,000 Roma
had been evicted from temporary camps in France in the first half of
the year.
Some 20,000 Roma have settled in France, coming mainly from Romania,
Bulgaria and parts of the former Yugoslavia like Kosovo.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24569585