This presentation was delivered at the conference 'From Frying Pan to Fire - Future of Dalits and descent based communities' on the event of World Social Forum held in Mumbai.

The situation of the Roma people in Europe

Dear friends,

I would like to thank you for the invitation to this very important event for all of us. I was invited to speak as a representative of the Roma community.  Many of you may not have heard about the Roma but I’m sure that everyone has heard about the “gypsy”. We consider that the label gypsy not to represent our community. The word has been given to us by non-romani people and is felt by us to be  very pejorative .  I find that the Roma have a lot in common with people from India, and in particular that we share many of the same problems and social stigma as the Dalit communities.

There are many theories about the origins of Roma, but many social scientists such as: A. Poissonier, F. Miklosich, Ascodi (Indian scientist), Paul Bataillard[1] and Grellman[2] as others have supported the theory that the Roma are of Indian origin. Studies have shown that the Romani language has many Hindustani words, which has until today retained perfect pronunciation. 

Among those casts there is a Hindustani group called the “cingari” (or “cengar” or “tzengar”, which means the most humiliated man) are very close related to Romani people.

Roma were present in Europe since the 12th-13thcentury. Because of their different appearance, customs and traditions and perceived origins they have been associated with different peoples such as  Egyptians (hence the name gypsy), or “athinganoi” in Greek which means: “untouchable” from which was derived such names as: tingan, tigan, cinkan, ciganin, cigonas gitanos, zingari, saracini, and many others used today in many Europeans states and in the world. All these names  undermine the dignity of Roma and who they are serves to treat them not as human beings and to make them to feel unwelcome in those countries to which they have lived for centuries and to which they belong.

With their specific characteristics defined historically, they have perpetuated a cultural way of life. While Roma are more visible in Europe, they are spread all over the world.

According to a survey of Minority Rights Group there are 12-15 million Roma living in Europe and more than 20 million in the world.   

Nowadays, there are a number of reports that tell us about the Roma situation. All of them speak about discrimination, persecution and exclusion that took place in throughout their history in Europe. They faced enslavement, extermination and forced assimilation and today are still perceived as strangers or nomads.

For example, the enslavement of Roma lasted more than 5 centuries in the Balkans, and their attempted extermination, occurred during the Second World War by the Nazi regime, where more than a half million of Roma people were killed. This is how the Second World War is known by the Roma as “ Porrajmos”(Devouring)”.

Today their human rights are violated through systematic discrimination, exclusion, in virtually all fields of public life. Because their status and rights were not recognized they had no possibility to develop their culture, which builds their identity and strengthens their communities. As a result, many Roma do not speak their native language today.

      Education

 Discrimination against Roma today is also seen in education. The main problems in the Romani communities are: illiteracy, the low rate of attendance by Romani students, the segregation of Romani students and their inappropriate placement in special schools for mentally retarded or handicapped children (usually due to their imperfect mastery of the national language). Very often children are subjected to different forms of violence and ridicule by their classmates and teachers. The children are placed in classes that do not correspond to their age, because of lack of schools in the romani communities, furthering their humiliation.   

     Unemployment

For centuries, Roma typically worked in handicrafts. Today it is very difficult for them to find jobs, because their level of education is low, that’s why the unemployment is very high. Roma are faced with discriminatory attitudes in the work place or just being refused work altogether because they are gypsy.

     Media

 The media serves as a factor in the negative portrayal of Roma images. Usually, the articles about Roma are of two types: they are brutal or romantic, describing the facts?, associated with the community lifestyle and imposing a racist view. Problems are that the media is not independent in most countries where Roma live and on the other hand the journalists are not acquainted with the Roma cultural background, traditions, life, emotions and these are reflected  when they speak and write  about them.

      Health Care

   Health patterns among Roma are also negatively influenced by the high level of poverty, the low level of education and limited access to health care and services. Illnesses are typically several times higher for Roma than for the rest of population. Such diseases as: tuberculosis (TB), hepatitis and measles prevail among Roma communities in various countries .Romani children are also susceptible to dermatological problems because of the unsanitary conditions in which they are forced to live due to the endemic poverty.

International organizations like Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, have elaborated a series of recommendations to their member states in which Roma reside governments aimed at  improving the Roma situation in the region. Much attention to the human rights violations of Roma is provided by United Nations bodies, such as International Committee for Eliminations all forms of Racial Discrimination, that has elaborated a number of recommendations regarding steps that States parties must take to combat the discrimination against Roma in all fields that affect them[3].

The policy of enlargement of the European Union, a for the acceding countries are called “Copenhagen criteria for the EU enlargement for improving the situations of Minorities in the acceding countries” and aim to pressure accession countries  into  changing their policies towards minorities and adopting reforms for improving their situations and ensuring their rights. In this regard European Commission have allocated money and support for those states tackling up Roma issue. Still a lot to be done for the non-accession country, but measures are taken forward.

In July 2003, a high level Conference was held in Budapest, organized by World Bank and Open Society Institute regarding the situation of Roma and sought ways to improve their situation. It was declared the “Decade of Roma Inclusion” and the World Bank will establish a fund called: “Roma Education Fund”, who will help to address and improve the level of education in the Romani communities.