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Thomas Morfin, AFP - 8/14/2002
DAMBLAIN, France - Some 40,000 gypsies were expected to descend on a abandoned NATO air base in the eastern French village of Damblain from Tuesday for a religious gathering that has riled local officials.
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Tens of thousands of gypsies gather in France for religious meeting
Thomas Morfin, AFP - 8/14/2002
DAMBLAIN, France - Some 40,000 gypsies were expected to descend on a abandoned NATO air base in the eastern French village of Damblain from Tuesday for a religious gathering that has riled local officials.
About 200 caravans set up camp on the tarmac at the 300-hectare (740-acre) site, putting out chairs and tables and spreading out laundry. Men cleaned their vehicles as children played between the cars, all under police scrutiny.
Organizers said they expected 8,000 caravans, or a total of 40,000 people, to arrive in the coming days.
Police are patrolling the area within a 40-kilometer (25-mile) radius of the base, and 200 riot police have been dispatched to the site with another 200-300 on the way, amid fears the meeting could spin out of control.
"An entire city is going to show up in a rural area that lacks the necessary infrastructure," said Vosges regional council vice-president Serge Essermeant.
"We've passed regulations on rave parties that we deemed dangerous -- how can we allow this kind of meeting to take place?"
Dozens of local officials, led by Essermeant, paraded through the streets of nearby Epinal last week to demand that the gathering be cancelled.
No incidents were reported on Tuesday.
The gypsies are members of Life and Light, a protestant evangelical group founded 50 years ago by a French minister that claims to have 100,000 faithful among France's 250,000-strong gypsy population, and 500,000 members in Europe.
Life and Light official Joseph Charpentier explained that convention participants -- mainly from France, but also from Belgium, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands -- were merely gathering to pray.
"People are coming to unite around the word of God, they've come to demonstrate their faith," he said.
But the new center-right government has taken aim at gypsy communities, with Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy vowing to crack down on their makeshift camps, possibly by confiscating their vehicles.
He has also proposed that newly-created regional intervention groups -- made up of police, customs officials and tax agents -- exercise tighter control over gypsies.
Charpentier rejected the criticisms, saying: "We want to restore the gypsy community's public image and show that we can meet without any problems."
The installation of toilets, water sources and power was running on schedule and should be finished by Friday, he added.
From August 21, participants will meet for chants, dancing and prayers until August 25, when the group will perform adult baptisms. The event wraps up on August 31.
"You'll see how beautiful it is," said one woman in her 60s, her eyes twinkling with excitement as she spoke about the "huge gypsy family" gathering in Damblain.
It is the third time in a decade that the Life and Light group has organized a meeting at the former NATO base, after gatherings in 1994 and 1996.
Last year's convention at a abandoned air base in Marville, northeastern France, attracted 30,000 followers.
The interior ministry has ordered that the gathering be held at a different location each year through 2007 in a bid to appease irritated local officials.
Life and Light operates mainly in Europe but had also spread into the United States, India and Latin America.
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