Roma families sleep by roadside after camps cleared near Nantes
Listen to the story
Dozens of Roma families near Nantes, in western France, are preparing to spend the night outside, close to the road.
This comes after police carried out an eviction of two informal settlements where the families had been living.
French authorities sent police to clear the two camps. The camps are sometimes called slums because the living conditions are very poor.
The families were forced to leave their homes quickly. Many of them still have nowhere else to go.
A day after the eviction, the same families remain in the area, close to where the camps used to be.
They are now staying by the roadside because they have not found new housing yet.
This situation shows a wider problem of poverty among Roma communities living in parts of France.
Many Roma families in Europe face difficulty finding stable, safe housing, and evictions like this one are not unusual.
Local groups often say that clearing camps without offering new housing leaves vulnerable families in a very difficult position.
For now, it is unclear what will happen next to the families who were living in these two informal camps near Nantes.
Vocabulary6 words
- Roma
- a group of people with a shared culture, often originally from Eastern Europe
- eviction
- the act of forcing people to leave a place
- informal settlements
- places where people build simple homes without official permission
- authorities
- people or groups, like the government, with official power
- slums
- poor areas with very basic living conditions
- poverty
- the state of being very poor
Quiz
Answer key
1. They were evicted by police 2. By the roadside 3. False
Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
Dozens of Roma families near Nantes, in western France, are preparing to spend the _____ outside.
This comes after police carried out an _____ of two informal settlements.
French authorities sent police to clear the two _____.
The camps are sometimes called slums because the living _____ are very poor.
The families were forced to leave their homes _____.
A day after the eviction, the same families remain in the _____.
They are now staying by the roadside because they have not found new _____ yet.
This situation shows a wider problem of _____ among Roma communities.
Many Roma families in Europe face difficulty finding stable, safe _____.
For now, it is unclear what will happen next to the _____.