Roma: Migrants Head To Western Europe

„The Roma Gypsies are becoming an growing social problem for the European Union. There are an estimated 12 million Roma in Europe and their number is rapidly increasing. In Hungary, it has been suggested Roma could make up 40% of the workforce by 2040.

Some feel that could spell disaster for the country's economic future, saying the Roma are badly educated and exist on the margins of society. The EU and its individual states are now under pressure to provide more financial assistance and better education programs. But it is clear that President Sarkozy's policy of rounding up and deporting members of the Roma community will not provide a permanent solution for the continent. As EU citizens, the Roma have the right to freedom of movement. And as the deserted streets of the southern Romanian commune Cojasca suggest, it is an entitlement they are continuing to make use of. Sky News was told 90% of the Roma who have been deported from France have now left the village for Britain, Germany or Spain, in the belief those countries represent a softer option. (...)

There's no doubt the Roma are outcasts and most face social exclusion as a way of life. European expansion to the East has created strategic and economic benefits for the EU. But the Roma believe helping them out of poverty should be part of the price.”