Last month, I blogged about concerns raised by EDRI that France was compiling a biometric database of Roma that could lead to significant humanitarian concerns. Now more evidence has emerged that is raising concerns. Jane Fae Ozimek reports in The Register:
The French national police force – la Gendarmerie – yesterday stood accused of operating a secret and illegal database of Roma and other travelling minorities.
The existence of this database was reported in great detail in yesterday’s Le Monde. It came to light by chance, when a 48-page powerpoint presentation, prepared by a Commandant in the Central Bureau for prevention of Traveller Crime (OCLDI), and presented to a meeting of Transport Businesses in November 2004, turned up on the internet.
Read more in The Register.