French National Front politician advocates concentration camps for Roma

This video from Romania says about itself:

The exile from Bassarabia, a documentary about [Hitler’s] Roma holocaust

28 Jan 2013

A documentary made by the National Roma Center in cooperation with E-Romani Glinda from Sweden.

From The Local in France:

‘Concentrate’ Roma in ‘camps‘: far-right runner

Published: 04 Mar 2014 13:26 GMT+01:00
Updated: 04 Mar 2014 13:26 GMT+01:00

A National Front party candidate running in Paris’s municipal elections has caused outrage by suggesting the best way to deal with the country’s Roma population was to “concentrate” them in “camps”. It is just the latest outrageous gaffe made by National Front affiliates.

In a blog posting, the top candidate on the National Front’s electoral list in Paris’s posh 6th arrondissement lashed out at the presence of Roma people in his district and offered up a solution that has caused outrage among anti-racism campaigners.

Paul-Marie Coûteaux, a candidate for Marine Le Pen’s “FN-Rassemblement Blue Marine” party, wrote in his February 19th post: “But what can the Minister of the Interior do–apart from concentrating these foreign people in camps–where life would undoubtedly be so below what they counted on that they would prefer to flee such inhospitable territory?”

The comments were naturally seized upon by anti-racism campaigners in a country which has often been criticized for its policy of mass deportations of Roma, which reached record levels last year.

In a statement SOS Racism denounced “Coûteaux’s “vile words” and announced it would press charges of racism in the coming days “in light of the severity and wretchedness of this anti-republican text.”

His words also provoked outrage among Twitter users. “Apart from this the National Front are not racist hey? Paul-Marie Coûteaux wants to replay the night of the long knives,” wrote one of the many tweeters who compared his words to Hitler’s policies.

“Couteaux” means “knives” in French.

…

National Front election threat

The ensuing anger his comments drew online and in the French press came just weeks before municipal elections are to be held across the country.

There are concerns the National Front, with its anti-immigrant and anti-Europe stance, could put up a strong showing as it attempts to continue its recent march towards mainstream power. …

‘I’d prefer to see her hanging from a tree’

In October Anne-Sophie Leclere, who was due to run on the party’s ticket in the northern French region of Ardennes in March, was suspended by the party after comparing Justice Minister Christiane Taubira, who is black, to a monkey in a Facebook post.

The post included a photo montage of a baby monkey, with the caption “18 months”, next to an image of Taubira with “now” written below it. Leclere attempted to explain the post to a TV news reporter.

“Honestly, she’s a wild animal, coming on TV with that devil’s smile,” Leclere told France TV.

“I’d prefer to see her swinging from a tree than in government,” she added, denying that she or the photo were racist, claiming, “I have friends who are black.”

Only last month another National Front candidate was barred from running for election after it was discovered he had a tatoo honouring a unit of Hitler’s SS division that operated in France.

Critics say this type of incident and the words of candidates such as Coûteaux reveal the true colours of the National Front’s members.

“Concentrating Roma in camps,… yes the National Front has changed… or not! It’s the same old shop, again and again,” Tweeted Damien Toumi.