EU officials scold France for gypsy deportations

European leaders scolded French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday for deporting thousands of gypsies, saying he was not respecting the European Union's open-borders policy.

Sarkozy said he would keep shutting down immigrant camps and deporting those who live there, the New York Times writes.

The battle over gypsies — also known as Roma, and one of the oldest exiled communities in Europe — reveals a larger struggle over the EU's open-borders policy during a recession. The wealthier nations within the group are worried they will be inundated with poor people from Bulgaria and Romania, the union's newest members, who are looking for work. (European countries such as Spain, Italy, and Ireland have also cracked down on illegal immigration in response to the economic downturn.)

Many of the deported gypsies are already making their way back to France, according to the Times.

(Photo: Romanian gypsies at a religious service/AP.)