EUROPE: Discrimination

Roma: Europe’s forgotten minority

THE Roma are currently the most deprived, excluded and discriminated ethnic group in Europe: high unemployment, reduced access to health care, restrictions on freedom of movement, restricted access to education or segregation in "special schools," denial of residency permits, extreme difficulty finding employment and poor housing continue to characterise their marginalised existence.

These physical hardships, which go hand in hand with ethnic persecution, discrimination and stereotyping persist against Roma in most countries in Europe. This physical and social prejudice denies them the basic elements of human dignity and leaves them vulnerable to criminal exploitation and physical abuse. They often live in extreme poverty, in horrendous living conditions and suffer disproportionately high rates of illiteracy and ill-health, including infant mortality.

It is estimated that there is a global population of 12 million Roma and between eight and 10 million of these currently reside in Europe. Roma people make up 5-10 percent of the population of the countries of central and eastern Europe. It is difficult to gather exact statistics as many Roma still live a nomadic existence and still more do not concede their ethnic origin.

Contrary to widespread belief, the Roma originated from north-west India, not Egypt; the word gypsy is a corrupted form of "Egyptian". They left India in the 10th century and dispersed throughout the world, mostly to Europe, although the Philippines and Argentina also have significant Roma populations. Their lifestyle and social status has remained largely unchanged over the centuries: itinerant and self-sufficient, they speak a language known as Romani which can only be communicated orally (and has similarities with Sanskrit) and which has been passed down through the generations. Often based on prejudice, due to their distinctive socio-cultural characteristics, numerous discriminatory policies and practices have historically been directed at the Roma. They were the second most persecuted group after the Jews in Nazi Germany and in 1994 were persecuted by the Serbs in Bosnia.

A recent survey in Slovakia showed that only 12 percent of the citizens of Slovakia had a positive image of Romas. Roma have resisted attempts to assimilate them and register them on the electoral roll. Authorities and society as a whole have tended to perceive them as a public nuisance which are lazy and noisy, feed off state resources, live in dirty conditions and resort to crime to support themselves. Cases such as the placing of a sign in a hotel window stating that rooms would not be let to Roma, to prevent destruction of property, as well as the banning of Roma from restaurants, swimming pools and discotheques have not been uncommon. Roma and their property are increasingly singled out as targets for violence by "skinheads" and other militant nationalists, they are often seen as scapegoats for the ills of society at large.

As pointed out in a report issued in 2000, two main problems which hinder improvements in the situation of Roma communities are shortcomings in the education system and housing problems. Regarding the former, this is part of a systematic marginalisation of Roma language and culture.

A Minority Rights Organisation report on Roma education in Serbia found that it was hostile to the Roma language and culture, and that Roma children faced prejudice from classmates and teachers. Also that approximately half of Roma children did not attend school, and most of those who did attend, dropped out before the end of primary school.

In Serbia this problem is currently compounded by the recent wars, growing poverty and the placement of many Roma children in "special schools" for the mentally disabled. This ensures that they are deprived of an equal and fair chance to obtain a proper education and that they remain second-class citizens forever. The effects of this are the extreme difficulty the Roma face in gaining employment. The vast majority are unemployed, but those who do have jobs normally work as road-sweepers, factory workers or rubbish collectors; Roma are virtually absent from the service sector.

Meanwhile, regarding housing, most Roma still live in the most squalid and derelict housing estates with non-existent or extremely poor sanitary facilities. Often they live in Roma-only sections which is tantamount to a segregation or ghettoisation from the mainstream population.

Also of great concern are reports, substantiated by the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC), of coercive sterilisation of Roma women in Slovakia. From the 1970s until 1990 the Czechoslovak government sterilised Roma women as part of a policy aimed at reducing the "high, unhealthy" birthrate of the Roma community.

The policy was documented and condemned by human rights defenders and a 1993 report by Human Rights Watch stated that the policy had ended in mid-1990, although attempts to prosecute on behalf of groups of sterilised women were dismissed in 1992/3.

However, throughout the late 1990s there have been periodic indications that the practice is continuing. In Slovakia in particular the purportedly high birth rate of Roma is a regular feature in public discourse on Roma, frequently in the context of right-wing rhetoric warning that "they will outnumber us by 2050". The issue is extremely sensitive in Slovakia and reports meet with widespread denial by nearly all actors, sympathetic or otherwise.

Investigative missions by ERRC in autumn 2002 to Slovakia confirmed that the practice is continuing. Cases of sterilisation in which consent has been secured and such consent meets medical, ethical and legal standards of full and informed consent constitute 10-20 percent of those that have been examined. In other cases there is evidence of criminal malpractice where the woman has given no consent and there is the possibility that forged consent signatures have been used.

Meanwhile there is a vast grey area where consent has been obtained though misinformation, manipulative information, pressure, tricks, or bluster. There are also cases of associated discrimination - for example one Roma woman had apparently been recommended for abortion by a bogus local doctor on as many as four occasions, due to a purported defect in the foetus. During a fifth pregnancy she sought a second opinion in Bratislava, after again being told that the foetus was defective, and was told that in fact the foetus was healthy, following which she gave birth to a healthy child.

There are grounds for concerns about similar practices in the Czech Republic and Hungary although Slovakia has been of particular concern owing to the extent and frequency with which the idea of coercive contraceptive measures has emerged as part of public discourse on Roma in the country.

Roma women are also often lured or forced into prostitution, ending up as subjects of international trafficking.

Post-1989, dogged by vulnerability, racism and insecurity, some Roma migrated to Western European countries. There was disillusionment because the promises of democratic political reform, so strong after the demise of Communism in Eastern Europe in 1989, had amounted to very little for them. This was accompanied by a great compression in job opportunities, especially those requiring no particular skills, which the majority of the Roma find themselves seeking.

The Roma are therefore in direct competition with the mainstream population who see them as the perfect scapegoat for their difficult circumstances. This has heightened "insecurity due to community tensions and occasionally violent incidents", a motivation for migration which is particular to the Roma.

Recently, strict control and regulation of immigration and asylum, and newly-introduced provisions for repatriation and readmission have restricted overt migration westwards. As a consequence, migration has become clandestine in the last few years, and migrants have been increasingly reluctant to either register with authorities or contact non-governmental support groups for fear of being detected and expelled.

The key factor in improving the situation of the Roma appears to be the need for greater inclusion and representation, so that when governments do attempt to promote their interests the Roma themselves are asked to give their views and become involved.

Currently measures taken appear as impositions or faits accomplis. Far from being a mutually beneficial dialogue, assistance tends to take the form of "favour-giving" on the part of the majority community.

However, there is also a definite need for Roma to be perceived as paying attention to and showing respect for the laws and customs of the country they reside in. They may be more inclined in this regard if they had a political voice; currently the Roma are under/unrepresented at the local, central or regional tiers of Government.

The model of the National Minority Self Governments adopted in Hungary since 1995 should be studied with a view to applying it elsewhere. Information also needs to be disseminated to the Roma regarding their rights and the remedies available both within and beyond the boundaries of the state in which they live.

The needs of the peripatetic and settled Roma communities are often very different and must be addressed. Racism also needs to be tackled more effectively and a "no-tolerance" attitude adopted toward it. An honest and unbiased police force as well as a strong and independent judiciary are essential in this regard. Longer-term strategies to enhance the inclusion of the Roma people and reduce their negative image needs to be adopted while urgent short term action is required to reduce the more obvious effects of discrimination: the poverty and ill-health of many Roma.

Speaking at a conference, in Athens on International Roma Day earlier this month, Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Alvaro Gil-Robles launched an appeal, asking for the millions of members of the Roma community to benefit effectively from their rights as European citizens. "Democracy", he concluded, "is the power of the majority.

But the quality of that democracy is measured by the respect with which minorities are treated.