A Roma camp deported from an EU country for the first time
And so in July, the Danish government decided to deport 23 Roma, as it is now politically correct to call Gypsies here. Roma usually engage in begging, petty theft, and fraud – all these types of "activities" either are not considered offenses in European countries or are difficult to prove crimes.
Until the end of last week, it seemed that the endless and inconclusive discussion about methods of solving the "Gypsy problem" would never end, if not for the Danes setting an example for other EU countries by deporting a group of Gypsies living in a building slated for demolition on the outskirts of Copenhagen.
The guests from Romania were charged with "illegal residence on someone else's property and breach of public order," and banned from entering Denmark for the next two years. The basis for such harsh actions were repeated complaints from the mayor of the Danish capital, Frank Jensen, that the Gypsies brought a wave of petty crime to Copenhagen, and their picturesque camps scared locals and tourists.
The group of 23 now-deported Gypsies particularly annoyed members of one of the capital's gardening associations, who reported to the police that they could not keep up with replenishing supplies of tools, cutlery, and other necessary small items in their garden sheds. The inhabitants of the camp, located under the roof of an empty warehouse, made regular raids on the gardening area, sweeping away everything of any value.
Upon arresting the Gypsies, the police found many stolen bicycles and household electronics, but could not "pin" the thefts to anyone specific. All the "itinerants" claimed they had come to Denmark to collect empty cans and bottles (a legal activity for local homeless).
The Danish authorities, having approved the deportation of unwanted visitors, knew they would face protests from neighboring European countries that are sensitive to discrimination against representatives of a historically oppressed people. The reaction from abroad was not long in coming. The first to enter a diplomatic war with Denmark was neighboring Sweden, which feared that the tightening of Danish rules would lead to a "redistribution" of the Gypsy flow towards Stockholm.
"Denmark violated the EU directive on free movement of citizens, and its authorities committed a racist act," said the head of a special agency – the Delegation for Roma Issues, Maria Leisner, on behalf of the Swedish government. "I don't care at all what Swedish politicians come up with in this terrible heat," Danish Minister of Justice Lars Barfod responded sarcastically to these attacks. "Let's wait until the same groups of Gypsies appear in Sweden and start setting up their camps in the parks of Gothenburg, disturbing citizens and bringing a wave of crime. Then we'll listen to the opinion of Swedish officials," added the Minister of Justice.
Danish newspapers regularly report on a great nomadic migration in which the role of horses and carts of the past is played by passenger cars and camping trailers on wheels. Children, laundry on lines, pots of soup cooking over open fires – Denmark had never seen such "wild" tourism. But Gypsy camps in city parks or at roadside trailer parks are only half the trouble. The main thing is that with the arrival of Gypsies, Denmark was flooded with a wave of all sorts of crimes.
Descriptions of tricks of deceit and theft, well known to Russians, newspapers print on the front pages, seeking to prepare their compatriots for them. "Scammers offer to play the thimble game, and a shill passerby wins in front of everyone. In the gathered crowd, pickpockets work, emptying the pockets of onlookers." "Gypsies play on people's compassion, trying to enter their homes under the pretext that a child needs a drink or to use the toilet. They set a trap on the road, raising the hood of a car and asking for help. As soon as the victim makes contact with the criminals, they are immediately surrounded by a whole crowd, and you lose everything valuable."
"Don't buy gold from Gypsies. It's brass items." "Don't exchange money with them. They'll confuse you and slip you a dummy." Many such warnings, with police approval, are published in the Danish media and broadcast on television. People are advised to keep a particularly close eye on their credit cards when a Gypsy camp appears in the city, since uninvited guests arrive with a whole arsenal of technical means for stealing access codes.
The Danish National Police announced a new tactic to combat "mobile Gypsies." A special police unit in cars was supposed to be on constant duty in the area where the Gypsies set up camp. As soon as the travelers moved on in search of a calmer territory for "combat operations," a police escort would follow them.
However, as it soon turned out, there were too many Gypsies to assign "overseers on wheels" to each group. In the end, they deployed aviation against the Roma: drones now monitor the movements of camps, sending information to police computers.
Alexei Smirnov.
Novye Izvestia