French Police in the south of the country have been tagged with the term “racist” after local hoteliers spilled the beans hoteliers had been asked to report the arrival of Eastern Europeans. According to the news, police were trying to crack down on certain types of crime by following the movements of certain nationalities.
A Gypsy crystal ball moment – © AniriAnA – Fotolia.com
The gist of the story is about police sending Emails asking hotel and campground owners to help them “anticipate” certain kinds of crimes by profiling Eastern Europeans as associative with organized gangs, bank card theft and prostitution ring suspects even before any crimes had been committed. The French daily Le Parisien reported on Monday this request coming from regional police:
“We therefore ask you to report the arrival in your establishments of people coming from Eastern Europe.”
In defending the indefensible, police authorities expressed their concern for pimping crimes in which prostitution at hotels and campgrounds happens so quickly and moves from one spot to another, as to confound police. As if racial profiling blanketing nationalities is ever appropriate, France’s problems with the Roma and other populations are well known.
French authorities have taken the hard line against the presence of Roma people from Romania and Bulgaria, repeatedly bulldozing their unsanctioned settlements and expelling them from the country in high profile instances. Apparently, even though these kinds of actions have met with harsh criticism, French authorities seem determined to stay the course.
