Roma, fear, and security

Here is an interesting article on the recent French action against rights of the Roma.   Andre Glucksmann identifies some of the fear-laden reasons for French opposition, a lot of which are recognizable in the situation of Islam in the U.S. these days.  From my own limited interaction with Roma and second-hand knowledge, I'm always hesitant about these completely benign portrayals of their tradition.  Their begging can certainly be quite invasive and harassing.  My mother-in-law even had her blouse fully unbuttoned and her traveler's purse nearly taken from her on a busy subway in Eastern Europe before realizing what a team of Roma had been doing.  Some of the negative stereotypes of Roma, that is, certainly have an extent of empirical basis, and I think that stricter laws concerning nomadic groups could reasonably be pursued.  But the article does well to highlight the extent to which freedom of movement and settlement should remain protected as much as possible, and it highlights how the politics of fear can inordinately effect security policy.