A French mayor was accused of 'racism and xenophobia' today after refusing to allow a dead Roma gipsy baby to be buried in a municipal cemetery. It follows the country's Socialist prime minister, Manuel Valls, infamously calling for entire Roma communities to be deported because they 'cannot integrate'. This time it is Christian Leclerc, the conservative mayor of Champlan, the Paris commuter town, who has sparked a nationwide controversy. The Roma baby was refused burial at Champlan's municipal cemetery (pictured) after the town's mayor said the few available plots were reserved for those who paid their taxes When a Roma family living in an illegal camp said they wanted to give their two-and-a-half month old child, identified as Maria Francesca, a proper burial, he said no.
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French mayor accused of racism after refusing Roma gipsy baby burial
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Christian Leclerc is the mayor of Champlan, a Paris commuter town
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He said municipal cemetery plots were prioritised for those who 'pay taxes'
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The baby's parents now hope their child will be buried in nearby Wissous
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Wissous mayor Richard Trinquier said it was a 'question of 'humanity'
Mr Valls, the notoriously reactionary @placeholder Prime Minister, is among many who want to see them deported.