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Police raid a Roma camp near the city of Lille
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said he will continue his controversial crackdown on Roma (gypsies).
He was speaking at his first cabinet meeting after the summer break, amid growing questions over his leadership.
Hundreds of Roma have been sent back to Romania and Bulgaria and more than 100 illegal camps dismantled.
The operation has been criticised by human rights watchdogs and Mr Sarkozy’s opponents, who accuse him of using the issue to boost his flagging support.
Mr Sarkozy is under pressure to tackle soaring public debt, but unions are threatening major strikes over plans for pension reforms.
Romania has questioned whether the repatriations comply with European law and the EU Commission has said it is concerned about them. The Commission is to report on the expulsions next week, says the BBC’s Christian Fraser in Paris.
France, which says it expelled 10,000 Roma last year, says it is acting in accordance with EU law by repatriating Roma who have been in France for more than three months without work. It also says most of the repatriations are voluntary.
About 635 Roma have been sent back to Romania and Bulgaria, after their camps were shut down in a crackdown announced last month, Immigration Minister Eric Besson said on Wednesday.
By the end of the month “around 950” will have been repatriated, he told Europe 1 radio.
Mr Sarkozy has said the Roma camps are sources of crime, prostitution, trafficking and child exploitation.
At the cabinet meeting, he urged his team “not to get sidetracked by useless controversies,” Immigration Minister Eric Besson said.
Former prime minister and likely presidential challenger Dominique de Villepin said the policy was “shameful”.
“It’s an electoral strategy. This will contribute nothing to the security of French people.”
Elected on a plan to fix the economy, the next two months will be the most critical point of Mr Sarkozy’s presidency, says our Paris correspondent.
Polls show Nicolas Sarkozy’s approval ratings hovering above 30%Mr Sarkozy even asked ministers to interrupt their summer holidays for a meeting at his official retreat, Fort de Bregancon, to discuss how France is going to cut its deficit.
The president has to find 100bn euros (£82bn) of cuts by 2013.
Following that meeting with senior finance ministers, France cut its forecast for economic growth next year.
The French economy is now forecast to grow by 2% next year, down from the previous forecast of 2.5%.
Another challenge for Mr Sarkozy will be pension reform.
Moves to increase the age of retirement from 60 to 62 years old are deeply unpopular, and street protests are planned for 7 September – the day on which parliament debates the pension plans.
The unpopular proposals led some 800,000 people to take to the streets in June in protest.
A poll published in Liberation newspaper on Monday suggested that more than half of French people want to see the opposition Socialists win the 2012 presidential race.
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