Protesters march in Paris against government security policies, including expulsions of Roma. (Francois Mori/Associated Press)

A whistle-blowing, drum-beating crowd of thousands demonstrated in Paris on Saturday against expulsions of Roma as well as other new security measures adopted by President Nicolas Sarkozy's government.

Human-rights and anti-racism groups, labour unions and leftist political parties took part in the demonstration. Organizers said similar protests were taking place in 135 cities and towns across France, and others were planned outside French embassies in capitals such as London, Brussels and Bucharest.

Protesters who gathered in Paris accuse Sarkozy of stigmatizing minorities and seeking political gain with the security crackdown. They also said he is violating French traditions of welcoming the oppressed, in a country that is one of the world's leading providers of political asylum.

The protests marked the first show of public discontent since the conservative Sarkozy, a former hardline interior minister, announced new measures to fight crime in late July.

Sarkozy said Gypsy camps would be "systematically evacuated" — and his interior minister and other officials said last week that about 1,000 Roma have been given small stipends and flown home since then.

Sarkozy also said naturalized citizens who threaten the lives of police officers should lose their citizenship.

His tough rhetoric came after violence between police and youth in a suburban Grenoble housing project, and other clashes in a travelling community in the Loire Valley.

Polls indicate the French are split about the policy, though slightly more favour it than oppose it.

Sarkozy has often built his electoral successes on his image as a tough, law-and-order politician. He has linked Roma to crime, calling their camps sources of prostitution and child exploitation.