Romani people in France

The first Roma came to France in 1418, to the town of Colmar. In 1419 more Romani arrived in Provence and Savoy. Nine years later the first Roma were recorded in Paris. In 1802 there was a determined campaign to clear Roma from the French Basque provinces. More than 500 Roma were captured and imprisoned pending their planned deportation to the French colony of Louisiana. The colony was, however, sold in 1803 to the United States.{{cite book|title= Historical Dictionary of the Gypsies (Romanies)|page=91}}

In 1962, the Roma population in France increased due to refugees from Algeria.{{Cite web | title=The emergence of the Roma Civil Rights Movement in France - RomArchive | url=https://www.romarchive.eu/en/roma-civil-rights-movement/emergence-roma-civil-rights-movement-france/#fn11 | access-date=2025-05-22 | website=www.romarchive.eu}}

Every year in late May, Romani people travel to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer for Saint Sarah.{{Cite web | title=Meet Sara-la-Kali, the patron saint of displaced people | url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/saint-sara-la-kali-romani-pilgrimage-camargue-france | access-date=2025-05-22 | website=www.nationalgeographic.com}}

Gypsy Jazz and flamenco are popular Romani genres in France. Gipsy Kings are a popular flamenco band from Spain. There are two important Romani music festivals in France. There is a gathering at Saintes Maries de la Mer where Romani people from France and Spain congregate to celebrate the feast day of the Romani patron saint, Saint Sarah, on May 24th and May 25th in the Camargue. The music at this festival is predominantly flamenco with a large population of musicians making the pilgrimage from Andalusia. Another festival, Mosaïque Gitane takes place each July every year in Arles.{{Cite book | title=World Music: Africa, Europe and the Middle East - Google Boeken | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gyiTOcnb2yYC&pg=PA146] | access-date=2025-05-22 | isbn=978-1-85828-635-8 | last1=Broughton | first1=Simon | last2=Ellingham | first2=Mark | last3=Trillo | first3=Richard | date=1999 | publisher=Rough Guides }}

Studies reveal that the Romani people originated in South Asia,{{Cite journal |last1=Ena |first1=Giacomo Francesco |last2=Aizpurua-Iraola |first2=Julen |last3=Font-Porterias |first3=Neus |last4=Calafell |first4=Francesc |last5=Comas |first5=David |date=2022-11-08 |title=Population Genetics of the European Roma—A Review |journal=Genes |volume=13 |issue=11 |pages=2068 |doi=10.3390/genes13112068 |issn=2073-4425 |pmc=9690732 |pmid=36360305 |quote=Based on genome-wide SNP arrays and whole-genome sequences, it has been determined that the Romani people carry approximately 20–35% South Asian ancestry [4,7], and North-West India constitutes the major source of this component [4,7,54]{{nbsp}}[...] In general, Romani people carry approximately 65–80% West Eurasian (European, Middle Eastern and Caucasian) ancestry, estimated to have been acquired by extensive gene flow. |doi-access=free}}{{cite book |last = Hancock |first = Ian F. |year = 2005 |orig-year=2002 |title = We are the Romani People |publisher = Univ of Hertfordshire Press |isbn = 978-1-902806-19-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MG0ahVw-kdwC&pg=PA70 |page=70 | quote =While a nine century removal from India has diluted Indian biological connection to the extent that for some Romani groups, it may be hardly representative today, Sarren (1976:72) concluded that we still remain together, genetically, Asian rather than European}} presumably from the regions of present-day Punjab, Rajasthan and Sindh.{{Cite journal |last1=Ena |first1=Giacomo Francesco |last2=Aizpurua-Iraola |first2=Julen |last3=Font-Porterias |first3=Neus |last4=Calafell |first4=Francesc |last5=Comas |first5=David |date=2022-11-08 |title=Population Genetics of the European Roma—A Review |journal=Genes |volume=13 |issue=11 |pages=2068 |doi=10.3390/genes13112068 |issn=2073-4425 |pmc=9690732 |pmid=36360305 |quote=Based on genome-wide SNP arrays and whole-genome sequences, it has been determined that the Romani people carry approximately 20–35% South Asian ancestry [4,7], and North-West India constitutes the major source of this component [4,7,54]{{nbsp}}[...] In general, Romani people carry approximately 65–80% West Eurasian (European, Middle Eastern and Caucasian) ancestry, estimated to have been acquired by extensive gene flow. |doi-access=free}}{{Cite web |last=Hernández-Arrieta |first=Stefany |date=2023-08-07 |title=The definition of being Romani |url=https://ellipse.prbb.org/the-definition-of-being-romani/ |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB) – El·lipse |quote=This population{{nbsp}}[...] migrated from northern India to Europe over 1,500 years ago{{nbsp}}[...] The Romani community are genetically diverse, and Romani groups established in different locations are highly varied.}}{{Cite news |last=Beňo |first=Matúš |date=2022-11-05 |title=Romani disappearing from Roma communities |url=https://spectator.sme.sk/c/23061966/romani-disappearing-from-roma-communities.html |access-date=2024-02-16 |work=The Slovak Spectator |quote=What is the current state of the language? It is used less and less today in Romani communities. The young generation in some localities, such as Humenné, Michalovce, or Trebišov in eastern Slovakia, no longer speak the language at all.}}Hübschmannová, Milena (1995). "Romaňi čhib – romština: Několik základních informací o romském jazyku". Bulletin Muzea Romské Kultury (April 1995). Romská lexika je bližší hindštině, marvárštině, pandžábštině atd., v gramatické sféře nacházíme mnoho shod s východoindickým jazykem, s bengálštinou. [The Romani lexicon is closer to Hindi, Marwari, Punjabi, etc., in the grammatical sphere we find many similarities with the East Indian language, with Bengali.]

Linguistic, historical and genetic evidence suggests that the Romani people initially migrated from the north of present-day India or the east of modern Pakistan in the second half of the first millennium. They then spent a period of time in the Byzantine Empire before migrating across Europe, with various groups diverging from an initially unified proto-Romani-speaking community based in the Balkans.

The linguistic evidence has indisputably shown that roots of Romani language lie in South Asia: the language has grammatical characteristics of South Asian languages and shares with them a large part of the basic lexicon, for example, body parts and daily routines.{{Citation | last1 = Šebková | first1 = Hana | last2 = Žlnayová | first2 = Edita | year = 1998 | url = http://rss.archives.ceu.hu/archive/00001112/01/118.pdf | title = Nástin mluvnice slovenské romštiny (pro pedagogické účely) | place = Ústí nad Labem | publisher = Pedagogická fakulta Univerzity J. E. Purkyně v Ústí nad Labem | page = 4 | isbn = 80-7044-205-0 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304024041/http://rss.archives.ceu.hu/archive/00001112/01/118.pdf | archive-date = 4 March 2016}} However, their exact point of departure within the subcontinent has not been established with certainty..{{cite book |last1=Beníšek |first1=Michael |author1-link=The Historical Origins of Romani |editor1-last=Matras |editor1-first=Yann |editor2-last=Tenser |editor2-first=Anton |title=The Palgrave Handbook of Romani Language and Linguistics |date=2020 |publisher=Palgrave |page=12–25}} Romani's origins lie in the Central Indo-Aryan group of languages, such as Hindistani and Haryanvi, from present-day northern central India. However, the Romani languages also share some linguistic innovations found in the Northwestern Indo-Aryan group of languages, like Panjabi and Sindhi. Therefore it is possible either that their dialect was a transitional form between Central and Northwestern Indo-Aryan, or that they migrated from the central region to modern-day northwestern India and western Pakistan, residing there for a period of time before migrating further west.

Genetic findings in 2012 suggest the Romani migrated from South Asia as a single group.{{cite journal |last=Mendizabal |first=Isabel |display-authors=etal |date=6 December 2012 |title=Reconstructing the Population History of European Romani from Genome-wide Data |url=http://repositori.upf.edu/bitstream/10230/25348/1/Mendizabal_cur_rec.pdf |journal=Current Biology |volume=22 |issue=24 |pages=2342–2349 |bibcode=2012CBio...22.2342M |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2012.10.039 |pmid=23219723 |s2cid=13874469 |doi-access=free}} According to a genetic study in 2012, the ancestors of present scheduled tribes and scheduled caste populations of northern India, traditionally referred to collectively as the Ḍoma, are the likely ancestral populations of modern European Roma.{{Citation | last1 = Rai | first1 = N | last2 = Chaubey | first2 = G | last3 = Tamang | first3 = R | last4 = Pathak | first4 = AK | last5 = Singh | first5 = VK |display-authors=etal | year = 2012 | title = The Phylogeography of Y-Chromosome Haplogroup H1a1a-M82 Reveals the Likely Indian Origin of the European Romani Populations | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 7 | number = 11 | page = e48477 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0048477 | pmid=23209554 | pmc=3509117| bibcode = 2012PLoSO...748477R | doi-access = free }}

In France the Romani people are typically classified into three groups:

• "Manouches", also known as "Sinté" (in Germany and Holland: Sinti), who often have familial ties in Germany and Italy, who form the majority of Romani groups
• "Gitans", who trace their familial ties to Romani people in SpainLiégeois, Jean-Pierre. Roma, tsiganes, voyageurs. Council of Europe, 1994.
• "Roms", who come from territories in eastern Europe

The term "Romanichel" is considered pejorative in France,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tQKyAAAAQBAJ&q=Romanichel+france+pejorative&pg=PA229|title=Historical Dictionary of the Gypsies (Romanies)|first=Donald|last=Kenrick|date=5 July 2007|publisher=Scarecrow Press|via=Google Books|isbn=9780810864405}} and "Bohémien" is outdated. Members of the Romani minority often call themselves Voyageurs (Travellers). The French National Gendarmerie referred to them in an ethnic database by the acronym "MENS" ("Minorités Ethniques Non-Sédentarisées"), an administrative term meaning "Travelling Ethnic Minorities". However this usage is not widely used, since this ethnic database was secret as creating ethnic data is illegal in France.{{cite news |url=http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2010/10/13/la-gendarmerie-nie-l-existence-du-fichier-mens_1425469_3224.html|title=La gendarmerie nie l'existence du fichier sur les Roms|date=13 October 2010|newspaper=Le Monde|language=fr}}

The exact numbers of Romani people in France are not known, with estimates varying from 20,000 to 400,000,{{Cite web|url=https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/combatting-discrimination/roma-eu/roma-equality-inclusion-and-participation-eu-country/france_en#:~:text=and+ERDF+OPs.-,Facts+and+figures,0.21%25+of+the+population).|title=France - European Commission|website=commission.europa.eu}} depending whether they include or not sedentary Roma, Manouches and cognate groups who intermingled with non-Roma Travellers (including Yenish people). The vast majority of this population uses a variety of French, usually called Voyageur, as their native language.

The French Romani rights group FNASAT reports that at least 12,000 Balkan Romani, who have immigrated from Romania and Bulgaria, live in unofficial urban camps throughout the country. French authorities often attempt to close down these encampments. In 2009, the government sent more than 10,000 Romani back to Romania and Bulgaria.{{cite news | title = Q&A: France Roma expulsions | url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11027288 | publisher = BBC News | date = 19 August 2010 | access-date = 22 August 2010}}

In 2009, the European Committee of Social Rights found France had violated the European Social Charter (rights to housing, right to protection against poverty and social exclusion, right of the family to protection) in respect to Romani population from foreign countries.{{cite web|url=http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/socialcharter/Complaints/CC51Merits_en.pdf |title=European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) v. France

|publisher=Coe.int |access-date=2015-09-27}}

File:Django Reinhardt (Gottlieb 07301).jpg|Guitar player Django Reinhardt.

File:Corot - Gypsy Girl at a Fountain, E1924-4-8.jpg|Painting of a Romani woman at a fountain in France, by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, c. 1865-1870

File:Bain rituel gitan aux Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.jpg|Ritual bath in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, a shrine associated with Romani people.

File:Renoir - gypsy-girl-1879.jpg!PinterestLarge.jpg|Painting of a Romani girl in France by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1879

File:The Gypsies (Les Gitanos) MET DP815312.jpg|The Gypsies, an 1862 print by Édouard Manet

File:Narcisse Diaz de la Peña - The Gypsy Princesses, San Antonio Museum of Art.jpg|The Gypsy Princesses, a painting by Narcisse Virgilio Díaz, c. 1865-1870

File:Tampon du camp de Montreuil-Bellay.jpg|A seal on a document on the Montreuil-Bellay "nomad concentration camp" (1943).

{{main|Deportation of Roma migrants from France}}

In 2010 and 2011, the French government organized repatriation flights to send Romanian Romanis to Romania. On 12 April, a chartered flight carrying 160 Romani left northern France for Timișoara. As in the 2010 deportations, the French government gave those Romani leaving France €300 each, with €100 for each child. The Romani on the 12 April flight were forced to sign declarations that they would never return to France.{{cite news|url=http://www.romea.cz/english/index.php?detail=2007_2336&id=detail)|title=France resumes deportations of Roma people from Romania|date=13 April 2010|work=Czech Press Agency|publisher=Romea.cz|access-date=25 November 2011|archive-date=25 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725014017/http://www.romea.cz/english/index.php?detail=2007_2336&id=detail)|url-status=dead}}

On 9 August, the city of Marseille in southern France forcibly evicted 100 Romani people from a makeshift camp near Porte d'Aix, giving them 24 hours to leave.{{cite news | last = Ira | first = Kumaran | title = Marseille mayor orders mass expulsion of Roma camp | url = http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/aug2011/mars-a11.shtml| work = World Socialist Web Site |publisher =International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI)| date = 11 August 2011 | access-date = 25 November 2011}} A chartered flight carrying approximately 150 Romani to Romania left the Lyon area on 20 September.{{cite news | url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2011/09/29/france-one-year-new-abuses-against-roma | title=France: One Year On, New Abuses against Roma | date=28 September 2011|publisher=Human Rights Watch|access-date=25 November 2011}} France's goal for 2011 was to deport 30,000 Romani to Romania.{{cite news | last = Bran | first = Mirel | title = France's Immigration Chief Revisits the Roma Expulsion Issue, in Romania | url = http://www.worldcrunch.com/france-s-immigration-chief-revisits-roma-expulsion-issue-romania/3921 | work = Le Monde | publisher = Worldcrunch | date = 12 October 2011 | access-date = 25 November 2011 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111122161439/http://worldcrunch.com/france-s-immigration-chief-revisits-roma-expulsion-issue-romania/3921 | archive-date = 22 November 2011}} As of 2012, France sent about 8,000 Romani to Romania and Bulgaria in 2011, after dismantling camps where they were living on the outskirts of cities. The actions prompted controversy and calls for greater inclusion of Romani people.{{cite web|author=Marian Chiriac |url=http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/france-to-tackle-roma-problem-at-home |title=France, EU, Seek Action on Roma from Romania |publisher=Balkan Insight |date=2013-05-03 |access-date=2015-09-27}}

Prejudiced views of Romani are widespread in France, with a 2014 Pew Research poll indicating that two-thirds of French people have unfavorable views of Romani.{{cite web |date=2014 |title=Chapter 4. Views of Roma, Muslims, Jews |url=https://www.pewglobal.org/2014/05/12/chapter-4-views-of-roma-muslims-jews/ |access-date=27 March 2019 |website=www.pewglobal.org |publisher=Pew Global Research}} In 2016, more than 10,000 Roma were evicted by French authorities. According to a report published by the Human Rights League of France and the European Roma Rights Centre, 60 percent of all Romani living in France were forcibly evicted from their homes in 2016, many in cold winter months.{{cite web |last1=Safdar |first1=Anealla |date=2017 |title=Thousands of Roma 'made homeless' in France in 2016 |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/02/thousands-roma-homeless-france-2016-170207204706535.html |access-date=27 March 2019 |website=www.aljazeera.com |publisher=Al Jazeera}}

Rumors and fake news stories of a white van occupied by Romani attempting to abduct children or young women have spread across the French internet on multiple occasions. A number of violent incidents against Romani occurred in March 2019 after rumors of Romani kidnapping children spread on Facebook and Snapchat. Two people in a white van were attacked by 20 youths in Colombes on 16 March. On 25 March, 50 people attacked a Roma camp in Bobigny with sticks and knives, burning several vans, and a separate group of Romani were chased and attacked in Clichy-sous-Bois.{{cite web |title=Roma in France seek protection after attacks sparked by fake news |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20190327-roma-france-seek-protection-after-attacks-sparked-fake-news |website=france24.com |date=27 March 2019 |publisher=France24 |access-date=27 March 2019}} Similar incidents occurred in Aubervilliers, Bondy and Noisy-le-Sec.{{cite news |last1=Marlowe |first1=Lara |date=2019 |title=Roma attacked in Paris after fake video circulates on social media |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/roma-attacked-in-paris-after-fake-video-circulates-on-social-media-1.3840665 |access-date=27 March 2019 |newspaper=The Irish Times}}

{{further|:Category:French people of Romani descent}}

• Cascarots, a group of Romani in the Basque Country
• Erromintxela, a group of Romani in the Basque Country with their own language
• {{section link|Gypsy jazz|France}}
• Romani people in Algeria

{{Reflist}}

• {{commons category-inline|Roma people in France}}

{{Romani diaspora}}

{{Europe topic |Romani people in}}

France

Category:Ethnic groups in France