PARIS – France will stop giving financial aid to Roma whom it has expelled to their native Romania after fears the money was being used to undermine the repatriation program.
The money — 300 euro ($390) for each adult — aims to help individuals settle in Romania. But it is believed many expelled Roma simply use the money to fly back to France.
Interior Minister Manuel Valls, speaking on RTL radio Friday, said "this aid has a perverted effect."
The initiative began in 2007, the year Romania entered the European Union.
In August, French police expelled hundreds of Roma from illegal camps in the Paris suburbs. In September, Romania and France signed a two-year deal to repatriate dozens of Roma families.
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