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The Eurasian Politician - Issue 5 (April 2002)
Arno Tanner, 10.10.2001
A certain hopelessness that has seemed to prevail for the Roma in Central and Eastern Europe has somewhat decreased. The Roma are no longer considered mere objects of sympathy, support nor aggression. We have come to know that they act through a variety of organizations, parties and media organizations. The Roma seem to possess the basic framework for a potential unification to move towards a stronger Roma identity and solidarity. Unfortunately, Roma in Central and Eastern Europe are still rather scattered and disunite - also within the foremost organizations. A single family seems often to be the largest unite entity to act for improved living conditions.
Future questions to sharpen up in the Roma question still consist of three essential entities; access to and quality of pertinent schooling, housing and houselessness, added with labour markets and working conditions. Also the health situation of Roma is alarming. However important, health questions have not been dealt with in a separate chapter here.
It seems that the most difficult problems within the field are harrassment of schoolkids and entrance discriminination at university level, but above all, the lack of pertinent Roma schools and the insufficient amount of Roma teachers and assistants. Roma do not have such strongholds in this area that would support and further improve their identity. This is partly due to governmental inefficiency and inability to cope with the situation as a whole. Partly it is a question of reluctance of the Roma to take part in majority education that is considered to risk or totally annulate their Roma identity.
In Macedonia, education in Roma language was made possible in 1996, but despite it over 80 percent of the children quit school. In some areas in Serbia, Czech Republic and Slovakia, Roma children have been transferred to schools for the mentally ill and handicapped. In Bulgaria, the educational situation seems to have improved, though, as one per cent of all university students are Roma and equal access projects have encouraged Roma children to attend regular schools.
According to the Romanian Ministry of Education, 50 percent of the country´s large Roma population are illiterate, and 52 percent of the Roma have no education whatsoever. Roma children in Romania are often left out of the schooling system without a valid document of inhabitance, and the Roma that succeed in being accepted to a school generally get worse education than other children. Roma children are often harrassed by schoolmates. On the other hand, the European Union is financing especially the improvement of educational methods and school buildings in Romania (totalling 2.6 million Euro since 1988). The amount of Roma students in universities has somewhat increased, partly due to the supporting program initiated by the Romanian Ministry of Education.
In the Czech republic, 4.5 per cent of the majority children are sent to special schools for the mentally retarded, whereas the corresponding figure among Roma children was 80 per cent. Roma were 15 times more likely to be transferred to special schools than majority children. There were very few Roma students in Czech universities. The situation has been similar in Slovakia.
Primarily due to weak or unexisting education, unemployment figures typically vary between 70 and 100 percent. This is partially due to the downfall of communist heavy industries, where Roma often had low-salary occupations. Nowadays, the lack of relevant schooling or vocational training, employer attitudes and Roma reluctance to receive an offered county- or state-supported job make the most difficult problems to cope with. Should a Roma receive a job, he may be fired as soon as the employer realizes him or her to be a Roma. Even if a Roma may keep his job, he may risk falling victim of co-worker harrassment.
Typical Roma occupations are street merchandizing or short term jobs of various nature. Industry and agriculture jobs are often noted. To a certain extent, Bulgaria is an exception. Although over 70 per cent of the Roma are unemployed, some are rather fully integrated, and of these, some have reached a higher occupational ladder. However, the cost of such success has often been withdrawal fron Roma identity.
In Romania, it seems worthless for a Roma to sue the employer due to discrimination, as labour market discrimination of Roma is considered "too common" by the court apparatus. In the Czech republic, the Roma have had to compete with cheap labour force from Ukraine. According to the Slovakian Helsinki Committee, the Roma in Slovakia are second or third class citizens in the labor markets, not respected by the authorities, co-workers nor the employers.
The low quality of housing in Central and Eastern seems quite a Roma-specific problem. Although the general level of housing (with exceptions, for example in the Czech republic) in Central and Eastern Europe has been on the rise since the fall of communism, the Roma still typically inhabit lousy environments. A partial reason to this is governmental inefficiency and reluctancy, another reason seems to be an unwillingness of some Roma to cooperate with the officials in improving such surroundings. Certain parts of Roma value a cosy, well-kept home, whereas for some, a solid inhabitance seems of secondary importance.
The largest problems seem to be the basic lack of infrastructure, official laissez-faire, and the inability and reluctance of both Roma and the local officials to cooperate. The Roma are wary of an obligatory integration as "officially second class citizens", whereas the local offical picture of Roma is still filled with stereotypes and fears that evidently turn out unfounded. The Roma often face difficulties in obtaining county-subsidized housing, and although a Roma family may find a flat in a majority area, the neighbourhood is likely to look down on the new, "different" neighbours. Such lack of peaceful coexistence may cause mutual problems later.
In Shuto Orizari, Skopje, Macedonia over 40.000 Roma are reported to be living. Although the communal infrastructure is reported to be severely defective and individual flats in a bad condition, the Roma endeavor to improve their conditions through organizational activity. In Serbia and Kosovo, very low-quality Roma community environments exist, for example in Zemun, Serbia and Prishtina, Kosovo. The Bulgarian Roma community in Stolipinovo, Plovdiv was reported to be without water and electricity delivery for over six months in 1998.
In Romania, a total of 21 persons has been reported to live in a single large room. In 1998, many of the rural Roma communities were short of running water, a sewage system and electricity. Those rural Roma who fled the 1990 and 1991 calamities to Bukarest are located to lousy, dirty ghettos. Even the stability of these apartments is threatened by the officials. According to the Roma organizations, officials have been unable to improve these environments. Recently, the Roma in Tirgu Mures accused the officials of deliberate ghettoisation of Roma. Over 80 percent of the Bukarest street children are still reported to be Roma.
In Hungary, some progress has been made according to the government, as in 1971 about 66 percent of the Roma lived in "below appropriate" circumstances, whereas in 1993 this figure had fallen to 14 percent. The Hungarian government has addressed assets to improve housing, but the Roma organizations argue the money to be way too little, and solve only a minor part of the enormous problem.
In Slovakia, the officials tried to inhabit many Roma back to urban areas, which has seemed to fail. Many Roma moved back to the osadas, Roma communities outside but near urban infrastructures, whereas those who stayed in cities such as Presov and Kosice have encountered a downfall of their suburbs - such as Hermanovce (Presov) and Lunik 9 (Kosice).
Governments have not been totally ignorant with Roma problems. This is particularly true for countries heading for a EU membership. Especially Slovakia and the Czech Republic have manifested considerable law amendments or crossgovernmental working groups for enhancing the overall situation of Roma and attitudes toward them. In Poland, problems have been listed and working groups established, but it is unclear whether due changes have reached grassroot level.
Also in countries that are not far in EU membership negotiations, some government activity is found. However, from countries such as Croatia and Macedonia, we hear sporadic aspirations to enhance Roma living conditions, but a more systematic and concise program is lacking. In Serbia, no program exists. As far as Kosovo is concerned, the sovereign authority over this area is still incomplete and even unclear. International organizations - as temporary, substitute governing factors - have not yet been able to stabilize the situation, and it is not even clear whether there is any true motivation for improving the situation of Roma within these organizations.
In most of the countries concerned, governments still have a vast work in making the bureaucracies more effective, neutral and punctual. The grassroot attitudes, both of the public and the bureaucracies still continuously hinder an effective commitment to Roma problems. Correct information about the Roma is often defective, and partly due to this, unfounded stereotypes and rumours flourish. There seems not to have happened a significant breakthrough to the better yet in local attitudes.
From the outside, it appears that EU-membership negotiations at least give the complex situation of Roma publicity. It is even possible, that the Copenhagen Criteria for EU membership even concretely improve the situation of Roma through governmental alertness and recognition. Such improvement, though, is yet to be completed and will obviously be slow to happen. Attitude and stereotype obstacles are still largely to be tackled, although especially the Slovakian and Czech governments have taken numerous initiatives to improve the situation and public recognition of Roma.
Attitude problems do also exist on the other side. Partly due to former problems with the authorities, many Roma are unwilling to open up to the society, or receive any support whatsoever from the government. Majority representatives may often be bulkly encountered suspiciously, and no positive coexistence can thus emerge. Among Roma organizations, internal and mutual disagreements also prevail, which makes the pan-European Roma movement rather weak.
Uniting is difficult, as Roma identity is not assisted by strong and concise educational support. There are still few high-quality Roma schools and even fewer Roma students in universities (with certain exceptions). Without a strong identity it is difficult if not impossible to get a strong unity. Without unity it is even more difficult the achieve external respect. And without external respect, outside factors are reluctant to give support for a further construction of identity.
It seems that for an enhanced identity, a further sharpening of schooling and education projects is needed. For larger unity, Roma communities and organizations need to solve their internal and mutual problems. Key organizational figures need to withdraw from everything else but supporting the self-confidence of a single Roma child and a tighter cooperation within and between the organizations - also trans-border. The Roma are still economically and socially so weak that they cannot afford mutual dispute. Mutual disputes should be tackled as soon as they emerge, with external help, if necessary.
In conclusion, there should be an interest in every single European citizen to consider ways of supporting this discriminated, historically brave and mentally bright people.
At least, an enhanced level of Roma living in their current places of inhabitance would increase the possibility of cultural, societal peace in the countries surveyed. It might even increase the self-confidence of a given country to tackle future dilemmas in a more timely fashion. Marginalization and its consequences might well diminish, also among other minorites, if the governments cooperated closely with the NGOs in order to establish a successful permanent for ethnic problem-solving. Such permanent might become very useful, once these countries are a part of an ethnically more heterogenous EU. Within the Union, facilitated and increasing immigration and emigration demands a clear policy of a single member country as far as new immigrated foreign groups are concerned.
At most, a united, content European Roma entity might give numerous chances for increasing cultural interchange and improvement. A successful preservation of Roma culture combined with societal integration might function as one of the first positive examples of combating European man-on-the-street xenophobia.
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Mr. Tanner works as a researcher for Central and Eastern Europe in the Finnish Directorate of Immigration. He has published a book in Finnish, on the situation of Roma in Central and Eastern Europe.