PARIS, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- France says it has begun dismantling illegal Gypsy camps following an order by the country's president for hundreds of the camps to be removed.
About 100 members of a Roma, or Gypsy, community were removed from makeshift shelters and tents in the central French city of Saint-Etienne where they had been living since May, the BBC reported.
Last week, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced plans to close 300 illegal camps in the next three months.
Members of the Roma community who committed public order offenses would be deported immediately, he said.
Sarkozy's order came after an attack last month on a police station in the Loire Valley town of Saint-Aignon by a group of young Roma, the BBC said.
The government says it cannot "tolerate" the camps, calling them "sources of illegal trafficking, of profoundly shocking living standards, of exploitation of children for begging, of prostitution and crime."
Human-rights groups have condemned the actions, saying they deliberately stigmatize a generally law-abiding group to win support from right-wing voters.
