French authorities will soon take the fingerprints of Roma and other migrants, in an attempt to discourage them from coming back to France after being expelled.
Martine Rodier, head of the ministry of immigration and integration, made the announcement on Friday, two days after the French government had been cautioned by the European Commission for its deportations of European citizens from Bulgaria and Romania.
Rodier said that the "biometric system will allow us to detect repeated requests for repatriation assistance and help us prevent the undue payment of return aid to people who come once, twice."
She added that authorities will take a full set of prints for every person over the age of 12 who receives financial assistance to leave the country. The fingerprinting is set to begin on October 15.
The authorities argued that the policy will not be specific to the Roma, and is therefore not discriminatory.
However, a large proportion of people who receive the reparations are Roma. France has expelled 10,000 Roma so far this year, according to Amnesty International. A sum of 300 euros was paid in most of these cases.
Those who accept the payment are considered by the government to have left "on a voluntary basis." Those who refuse to leave risk being incarcerated at detention centres and ultimately deported without any payment.
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