Sarkozy invites immigration ministers to meet in Paris today: MRN blogs its views on the New Statesman website

To update people on this, according to the EU Observer - http://euobserver.com/9/30744 - this morning, Sarkozy sidestepped the whole issue of Roma migration and increasing powers to expel EU nationals at his meeting of selected EU chiefs yesterday.

Reporter Valentina Pop tells us that the French immigration minister Eric Besson, aided by his his Italian counterpart Roberto Moroni, switched the agenda to a discussion on developing 'accelerated procedures' to permit the speedy return of refused asylum seekers to their countries of origin. 

We should commisserate with our colleagues working in the asylum rights networks who have suddenly found the position of vulnerable refugees coming under scrutiny at a meeting which had been heavily trailed as dealing with the explusion of EU nationals.  This underscores the obvious fact that all aspects of migration are now closely connected in the minds of governments and politicians, and that an apparent success achieved for one group can, if we are not vigilant, turn into a set back for another.

But it is worth noting that the French government has been under considerable pressure from parts of civil society in that country concerned with the rights of Roma people.  As well as the unprecedent, open criticism which Sarkozy came under from members of his own government and leading spokespeople for the Catholic Church, ordinary citizens also rallied to demonstrate their opposition to harsher measures aimed at depriving the Roma of their EU legal rights.  The EU Observer reports the 'tens of  thousands' of people demonstrated in major cities across the EU over the weekend to protest against the forced removal policies.  

According to the UK on-line magazine, Travellers Times - http://www.travellerstimes.org.uk/list.aspx?c=00619ef1-21e2-40aa-8d5e-f7c38586d32f&n=185988e7-1bea-425d-86aa-321628a82856 - a contingent of supporters of the rights of the Roma people supported these European protests with a picket last Saturday held outside the French embassy in Knightsbridge.

It is unlikely that the French and Italian governments will have abandoned their plans to roll back this aspect of free movement rights however, the the UK government still has plans to roll out plans aimed at expelling homeless East European EU nationals from the country.  Watch this one for the future!